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THE CITIZENS OF TROY, 



emorp 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 




ALBANY, N. Y. : 

J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STREET. 

1865. 






■)Mi 



r7 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
vii 



Introduction, 

Friday, April 14tli, the day of the assassination, 1 

Saturday, April 15th, 1 

Assassination of President Lincoln, by George Evans,... 2 

Proceedings in the Rensselaer County Court, 4 

Proceedings in the Police Court, 5 

Orders of the National Guard, 6 

Sjenes in the City, ' 

Service at St. John's Church, 9 

Address, by Martin I. Townsend, 15 

Other Services, 19 

The Assassination of the President, by John 31. Francis, 20 

Our Duty on this day, by B. H.Hall, 22 

The National Calamity and Humiliation, by F.B. Hiibbell, 24 

Abraham Lincoln, by James S. Thorn, 27 

Proclamation by the Governor, 28 

Recommendation of Bishop Potter 29 

Citizens' Meeting, ^" 

Sunday, April 16th, 31 

" Hung be the Heavens with black," by C. L. MacArthur, 31 

Extract from a Sermon, by Rev. Henry C. Potter, D.D., 32 

Sketch of a Sermon, by Rev. S. D. Brown, 36 

Sermon, by Rev. Jacob Thomas, 43 

Sermon, by Rev. D. S. Gregory, 47 

Sermon, by Rev. Edgar Buckingham, 66 

Other Services, "^^ 

Monday, April 17th, 87 

Announcement by the President, 87 

The Assassination of President Lincoln, by A. G. John- 
son, 88 



iv COyTEXTS. 

The National Bereavement, by W. E. Kisselburp;h, 90 

The Death of President Lincoln, by Mrs. E. A'aii 8aut- 

voord, 92 

Couimou Council Proceedings, 93 

Address, by Maj. Gen. John E. Wool 96 

Request of the Committe of the Common Council, 97 

Kesolutions of respect, by Jewish Citizens, 98 

Tuesday, April 18th, 99 

Announcement by the Maj-or, 99 

Orders to the Tenth Brigade and the Twenty-fourth 

Regiment, 100 

Proceedings at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 101 

Wednesday, April 19th, 10-4 

Discourse, by Rev. C. P. Sheldon, D.D., 104 

Sermon, by Rev. J. We.sley Carhart, D.D., 116 

Address, by Rev. D. S. Gregory, 127 

Address, by Rev. Duncan Kennedy, D.D., 136 

Sermon, by Rev. Joseph A. Prime, , 1,51 

Service at the Jewish Synagogue, 1.57 

Other Services, 160 

Thursday, April 20th, 165 

Friday, April 21st, 166 

Resolutions of the BnarJ of Supervisors of Rensselaer 

County, 1 66 

Saturday, April 22d, 168 

" Sic Semper Tyrannis," by PL II. G. Clark, 168 

Abraham Lincoln, by Julia A. Burdick, 169 

A Dirge, by A. S. Pease, 175 

Invitation from the Common Council of Albany, 177 

Order of the National Guard, 177 

Sunday, April 23d, 178 

In Memoriam A. L., by B. II. Hall, 178 

Sermon, by Rev. Marvin R. Vincent, 181 

Substance of a sermon, by Rev. Erastus ^Ventworth, D.I)., 223 

Substance of a sermon, bj' Rev. Edgar Buckingham, 229 

Meeting of the Concordia Society, 237 

Monday, April 24th, 238 



CONTENTS. V 

Proclamation by the President, 238 

Common Council Proceedings, 240 

The Guard of Honor, 241 

Tuesday, April 25th, 242 

Announcement by the Mayor, 242 

Invitation by the Twenty-fourth regiment, 242 

Proceedings of the Executive committee of the Troy 

Young Men's Association, 243 

Meeting of Veteran Officers, 244 

Officers' Meeting, 245 

Wednesday, April 26th, 245 

An Account of the Participation of citizens of Troy in 

the obsequies at Albany, 245 

Thursday, April 27th ... 254 

Kesolutions of the Troy Young Men's Association, 254 

Friday, April 28th, 255 

Decline of Amusements, by F. B. Hubbell, 255 

Saturday, April 29th, 256 

Proclamation by the President, 256 

The month of May, 257 

'• To everything there is a season," by James S. Thorn,... 257 

A dirge, by Josiah L. Young, 258 

Lincoln and Cicero, by B. H. Hall, 260 

Letter, and Order of Services, by Bishop Potter, 265 

Proclamation by the JIayor, 267 

Thursday, June 1st, • 268 

Discourse, by Rev. Thomas W. Coit, D. D., 268 

Address, by Charlton T. Lewis, 279 

Discourse, by Rev. David T. Elliott, 297 

Sermon by Rev. Hugh P. McAdam, 318 

Other service.s, 329 

Common Council Proceedings, 333 



ERRATA. 

e 33. line 14 for ttot read no. 

of), " 22 fur Gods read Gail's. 

91, " 3 for loose read lose. 

100, " 1 for Forty read Twenty. 

15.3, " 20 for ]»iblic read repiiblii;. 

164, *• 17 for voltunnimis read vobnninon 

21fi. " 1 for »/• read to. 

ifa. " II) for Arjretubly read Affretaile. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The tokens of grief ami iudignatioii so generallj' 
shown, when it was made certain that Abraham Liu- 
cohi was dead, gave at once the clearest proof, not 
only of the deep detestation with which his foul 
assassination was regarded, but also of the warm 
esteem in Avliicli lie, who for four years had guided 
the atfaii's of the nation, was held as a ruler and as 
a man. In many countries an event of this nature, 
liappening at sucli a juncture of aftiiirs, would Iiave 
been followed by an uprising of the people, resulting 
in scenes of indiscriminate and passionate vengeance. 
Here, however, a different result was witnessed. In a 
few instances, men of virulent nature and seemingly 
lost to human sensibility, who had expressed a modi- 
fied approval of the dreadful deed, received unmistak- 
able warning of the daugei- of indulging a sentiment 
so brutal. But the indignation of loyal men found 
vent, for the most part, in efforts to arrest the mur- 
derer and his abettors, whoever they might be, and in 
demands for their condign punishment. 

The spontaneousuess and depth of the sorrow 
evinced on this occasion, bring to remembrance the 



^iii • LLXCOr.y MEMORIAL. 

account jriveii of the oceurrences consequent upon the 
deatli of Sir Philip Sidney in the year 1586. The 
grief of the people of Englaml at his loss, say his 
biographers, was wide-spread and sincere. His body 
was brought to London and there interred, although 
the subjects of his late government in the Netherlands 
begged that it might be sutiered to remain among 
them, and offered, should their request be granted, 
"to erect for him as fair a monument as any prince 
had in Christendom, yea, though the same should cost 
balf a ton of gold the building." His funeral was 
performed with great circumstance and pomp, " the 
seven United Provinces sending each a representative 
to testify respect for his memory by their vicarious 
presence at his obsequies." The universities of Cam- 
bridge and Oxford, also, " poured forth three volumes 
of learned lamentation, on account of the loss of him 
whom they considered as being their brightest orna- 
ment; and indeed so fivr Avas the public regret, on 
this occasion, carried, that, for the first time in the 
case of a private individual, the whole kingdom went 
into mourning, and no gentleman of quality, during 
several months, ventured to appear in a light colored 
or gaudy dress, either in the resorts of business or of 
fashion." 

Of a similar nature, but wider in extent and more 
varied in expression, was the mourning for Abraham 
Lincoln. In truth, history does not present another 
instance, in which the grief of the civilized world has 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. ix 

b€en unitedly expressed with such real earnestness, at 
the loss of any man, be he public ruler or private 
citizen. Throughout the north the manifestations of 
sorrow were well nigh universal. The funereal tolling 
of bells ; the booming of minute guns ; the sable 
draperies that shrouded the fronts of buildings both 
public and private, and garbed the interiors of places 
of public worship and the chambers of legislation and 
tlic halls of vai'ious organizations ; th(^ flags at half 
mast or furled and festooned with crape ; the emblem- 
atic decorations expressive of grief; the noble senten- 
ces that fell from the lips of the departed, set forth in 
grand lettering on the extended canvas ; the craped 
arm of private citizen as well as of soldier and gov- 
ernment official ; the black rose of sorrow or the 
features of the dead in miniature, worn like a decora- 
tion of honor on tlic garment ; the mourning border 
■ which edged the siieet of paper on which man wrote 
to his fellow ; the black lines dividing the columns of 
the daily and weekly journals ; the multitudinous 
representations of those honest features in every home 
and office and counting-room and shop window ; the 
varied delineations that tilled the pictorial papers to 
repletion ; the solemn dirges sung ; the prayers utter- 
ed, instinct with tlie earnest inspiration of the soul; 
the churches thronged with mourning worshippers ; 
the impassioned utterances of those vho minister 
at God's altars ; the eyes of the strong man filled with 
unaccustomed tears ; the weeping of women, the 

B 



X LIXCOLN MEyrORIAL. 

clouded faces of little ones, whose being seemed, for a 
time, overshadowed bj a mysterious and sympathetic 
awe ; — these manifestations rendered those dark Ajiril 
days, in this year of victory and sadness, moniorahle 
and historic beyond all precedent. 

Then came the grand and solemn obsequies. The 
funeral at Washington inaugurated the imposing 
ceremonies, and for two weeks, the procession, start- 
ing from that city, passed through the land to the 
wailings of a bereaved and stricken nation. At Balti- 
more, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis and Chi- 
cago the funeral scene was repeated, and thus the 
honored and beloved dead was borne to his western 
resting place. Springfield — once the home, now the 
grave of Abraham Lincoln — where the obsequies be- 
gun at Washington were ended, is henceforth sacred 
among the slirines of the earth, sacred to every lover 
of labor, common sense, humanity, patriotism and 
God. 

In the pages that follow, an attempt has been made 
to preserve a record of the manner and the words 
in which the respect of the citizens of Troy was 
expressed for the memory of the late President, during 
the period intermediate the day of the assassination 
and the day designated as one of humiliation and 
mourning for the nation. In other cities throughout 
the land, similar observances obtained, and in many 
places the manifestations of sorrow were accompanied 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xi 

by displays of solemn grandeur. Not the least re- 
markable feature of this period, was the unanimity 
with which the journals of the United States joined 
in the general tribute of sorrow and respect which 
was rendered to the memory of the great patriot. 
The press of the other continent sympathized with 
these sentiments, and its eulogy and admiration were 
declared in language as sincere and impassioned as any 
that was uttered in this land. The intelligence of the 
death of Mr. Lincoln reached England on the twenty- 
sixth of April. On the day following, appeared in 
the editorial columns of the London Star, a leading arti- 
cle on his assassination, which is here inserted for the 
purpose of showing not only the immediate effect 
produced by the event in England, but also to enable 
the reader, by comparing this extract with the leaders 
of our own journals on the same subject, to observe 
that in the old world and in the new, those who best 
understood his character were most eulogistic of him 
as a man, and deplored his death as a loss not only to 
his country but to the world. 

" The appalling tragedy whicli has just been perpe- 
trated at Washington is absolutely without historical 
precedent. . Not in the records of the fiercest Euro- 
pean convulsion, in the darkest hour of partisan 
hatreds, have we an example of an assassin plot at 
once so foul and so senseless, so horrible and so suc- 
cessful, as that to which Abraham Lincoln has al- 
ready fallen a victim, and from which William H. 



xii LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Seward can liardly escape. Only in such instances 
as the nuirdor ol' William of Orange, of Henri Qnatre, 
or of Capo d'lstria. have wc an}' deed approaching in 
hideous ferocit}- to that which has just rohhed the 
United States of one of tlie greatest of their Presi- 
dents. But from the fanatic's hateful point of view 
there was at least something to be said for men like 
Baltliazar Gerard and Ea\'aillae. Thc\-, at least, 
might have believed that tliey saw embodied in their 
victims the whole living principle and motive power 
of that religious freedom which they detested. They 
might have supposed that with the man would die 
the great hopes and tlie great cause he inspired and 
guided. So, too, of Orsini. That unfortunate and 
guilty being believed, at least, that in T^Tapoleon the 
Third there stood an embodied and concentrated 
system. But Abraham Lincoln was no dictator and 
no autocrat. He represented simply the resolution 
and the resources of a great people. The miserable 
excuse which fanaticism might attempt to plead for 
other political assassins has no application to the 
wretch whose felon hand dealt death to the pure and 
noble magistrate of a free nation. One would gladlj-, 
for the poor sake of common humanity, liave caught 
at the iilca that the crime was but the work of some 
maniactal partisan. But the mere nature of the deeds, 
w'ithout any additional evidence whatever, bids de- 
fiance to such an idea. While the one murderer was 
slaying the President of the Republic the other was 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xiii 

making his even more dastardly attempt upon the 
life of the sick and prostrate Secretary. It does not 
need even the disclosures wliich have now, too late 
for any good purpose, reached official quarters to 
prove that two madmen cannot become simul- 
taneously inspired with the same monstrous project 
and impelled at the one moment to do their several 
parts of the one Llood}' business. The chivalry of 
the south has liad much European compliment of 
late. It has been discovered to be the fount and 
origin of all the most noble and knightly qualities 
which the world heretofore had principally known 
through the medium of mediaeval romance. Let it 
not be forgotten that southern brains lately planned 
the conflagration of a peaceful city. It never can be 
forgotten while history is read that the hands of 
southern partisans have been reddened by the foulest 
assassin plot tlie world has ever known, that they 
have been treacherously dipped in the blood of one 
of the best citizens and purest patriots to whom the 
land of Washington gave birth. 

For Abkauam Lincoln one cry of universal regret 
will be raised all over the civilized earth. We do not 
believe that even the fiercest partisans of the confede- 
racy in this country will entertain any sentiment at 
such a time but one of grief and horror. To us 
Abraham Lincoln has always seemed the finest 
character produced by the American war on either 
side of the struggle. He was great not merely by 



xiv LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the force of genius — and only the word genius will 
describe the po^\•er of intellect h\ which he guided 
himself and his country through such a crisis — but 
by the simple, natural strength and grandeur of his 
character. Talleyrand once said of a great American 
statesman that without experience he ' divined ' his 
M-ay thi'ough any crisis. Mr. Lincoln thus divined 
his way through the perilous, exhausting, and unpre- 
cedented difficulties which might well have broken 
the strength and blinded the prescience of the best- 
trained professional statesman. He seemed to arrive 
by instinct— by the instinct of a noble, unseliish, 
and manly nature— at the very ends which the 
highest of political genius, the longest of political 
experience, could have done no more than rcaclj. He 
bore himself fearlessly in danger, calmly in difficulty, 
modestly in success. The world was at last beginning 
to know how good, and, in the best sense, how great 
a man he was. It had long indeed learned that he 
was as devoid of vanity as of fear, but it had only just 
come to know what magnanimity and mercy the hour 
of triumph would prove that he possessed. Reluctant 
enemies were just beginning to break into eulogy 
over his wise and noble clemency when the dastard 
hand of a vile murderer destroyed his noble and vain, 
able life. We in England have something to feel 
ashamed of when we meditate upon the true o-reat- 
ness of the man so ruthlessly slain. Too many En- 
glishmen lent themselves to the vulgar and ignoble 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xv 

cry which was raised against him. English writers 
degraded themselves to the level of the coarsest cari- 
catnrists when tliey had to tell of Abraham Lincoln. 
They stooped to criticise a foreign patriot as a menial 
might comment on the bearing of a hero. They 
sneered at his manners, as if Cromwell was a Chester- 
field ; they accnsed him of ugliness, as if Mirabeau 
was a beauty ; they made coarse pleasantry of his 
figure, as if Peel was a posture-master; they were 
facetious about his dress, as if Cavour was a D'Orsay ; 
they were indignant about his jokes, as if Palmerston 
never jested. We do not remember any instance 
since the wildest days of British fury against the 
'Corsican Ogre,' in which a foreign statesman was 
ever so dealt with in English writings as Mr. Lincoln. 
And when we make the comparison we caunot but 
remember that while N^apoleon Avas our unscrupulous 
enemy Lincoln was our steady friend. Assailed by 
the coarsest attacks on this side the ocean, tried by 
the sorest temptations on that, Abraham Lincoln 
calmly and steadfast)}' maintained a policy of peace 
with England, and never did a deed, never wrote or 
spoke a word which was unjust or unfriendly to the 
British nation. Had such a man died by the hand of 
disease in the hour of his triumph the world must 
have mourned for his loss. That he has fallen by the 
coward hand of a vile assassin exasperates and em- 
bitters the grief bej'ond any power of language to 
express. 



xvi LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Had Lincoln been a vain man he might ahuost 
have ambitiouecl such a deatli. The weapon of the 
murderer has made sure for liim an immortal })lace in 
history. Disappointment, failure, political change, 
popular caprice, the efibrts of rivals, the malice of 
enemies, can touch him no more. He lived long 
enough to accomplish his great patriotic work, and 
then he became its martyr. It would be idle to specu- 
late as yet upon the oifect which his cruel death will 
produce upon the political fortunes of his country ; 
but the destinies of that country will be cared for. 
Its hopes are too well sustained to faint and fall even 
over the grave of so great a patriot and so wise a 
leader as Abraham Lincoln. There are still clear 
and vigorous intellects left to conduct what remains of 
Lincoln's work to a triumphant conclusicin. Dramatic 
justice has, indeed been marvellously wreaked thus 
far upon the criminal pride of the soutii. A negro 
regiment was the first to enter Richmond, and now 
one of the poor whites, the 'white trash ' of a south- 
ern state, is called to receive from the south its final 
submission. We trust and feel assured that even in 
this hour of just indignation and natural excitement 
the north may still bear itself with that magnanimous 
clemency wliich thus tar has illumined its triumjili. 
But it may be that the conquered south has yet to 
learn that it too must mourn over the bloody grave to 
which Abraham Lincoln has been consigned by a 
southern assassin's hand." 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. ^vii 

On other pages of the same paper, was published 
the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln, from which, 
for the purpose of illustrating the fervor with which 
the cause of the United States was upheld by millions 
of Englishmen, and the exultation with which they 
viewed the onward march of freedom and humanity, 
the following extracts are taken. 

" In the moment of victory, Abraham Lincoln has 
been stricken to death. Not on the battle held, where 
so many noble patriots have laid down their lives for 
freedom, not by the unseen shaft of disease before 
which the greatest and noblest must sooner or later fall 
— but brutally m.irdered by an assas.sin of the slave 
power while he sat beside his Avife enjoying a 
much needed relaxation from the heavy cares of 
state. Noble, generous, forgiving, his only thoughts 
since the capture of Eichniond have been of mercy. 
At a meeting of the cabinet on the morning of his 
death he spoke very kindly of Lee, and others of the 
confederates, and while his thoughts were thus all of 
forgiveness, the miscreant stole behind him and shot 
him through tlie lu'ain. Unconscious from the mo- 
ment he received the fatal wound, the great and 
noble-hearted patriot breathed his last on the following 
morning. Nothing else was needed to sanctify the 
name and memory of Abraham Lincoln to the people 
of the United States, and to all lovers of freedom 
throughout the world, than this his martyr-death. 
Raised from the ranks of the common people to take 



xviii LIXrOLX MEilOBIA L. 

upon himself the rctrpousibility of the most gigautic 
struggle the world lias ever witnessed between the 
forces of freedom and slaver}-, he guided the destinies 
of his country with unwavering hand through all the 
terrors and dangers of the conflict, and placed her so 
high and safe among the nations of the world that 
the dastards of despotism dare no longer question the 
strength and majesty of freedom. "With a firm faith 
in his God, his coimtry, and his principles of freedom 
for all men, whatever their color and condition, he 
has stood unmoved amid the shock of armies and the 
clamors of faction : he i]uailed not when defeat in 
the field seemed to herald the triunqih of the foe; he 
boasted not of victory, nor sought to arrogate to himself 
the honors of the great deeds which have resounded 
through tlie world ; but, gentle and modest as he was 
great and good, he took the chaplet from his own 
brow to place it on the lowl}- graves of the soldiers 
whose blood has been so liberally poured forth to 
consecrate the soil of America for freedom. He dies 
and makes no sign, but the impress of his noble char- 
acter and aims will he borne b}" his country while 
time endures. He dies, but his country lives ; free- 
dom has triumphed ; the broken chains at the feet 
of the slaves are the mute witnesses of his victory. It 
was on the evening of the fourteenth of April, the day 
which saw the federal flag raised once more on Fort 
Sumter amid the hoarse reverberation of cannon and 
the cheers of liberated slaves, that the President re- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. . xix 

ceived his death l)low. The wretched conspirators 
who sought to destroy their country that slavery 
might triumph over its ruins panted for Liueohi's life 
since the day he was first elected to guide the destinies 
of the republic. When iu the act of passing from 
his home in Illinois to assume the reins of office he 
was apprised by General Scott that the barbarians of 
slavery had resolved to assassinate him. The plan 
was to raise a riot in Baltimore as he passed through 
that city on his way to Washington, and in the midst 
of the tnmult Mr. Lincoln was to be slain. The 
messenger who brought the news of the conspiracy 
to Mr. Lincoln at Harrisburg was Frederick W. Sew- 
ard, son of the statesman who now lies low beside 
his chief, stricken down by another desperate miscre- 
ant on the same day as the President. Mr. Lincoln, 
with his usual prudence, at once stopped in his tri- 
umphal progress towards the capital, and, disguised 
as a countryman, passed safely through Baltimore by 
the night train, and arrived at the White House 
iu Washington. The speecli which he made to his 
neighbors of Springfield when he set out on his 
perilous mission has a mournful interest in view of 
his sudden and awful death. At the railway depot 
on Monday, the eleventh of February, 1860, a large 
concourse of his fellow citizens had assembled to bid 
him farewell. ' My friends,' he said, ' no one not in 
my position can a^jpreciate the sadness I feel at this 
parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I 



XX LIXCOLX MEMOItlAL. 

have lived more than a (quarter of a century ; here 
my children were born, and here one of them lies 
buried. I know not how soon 1 shall see you again. 
A duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater 
than that which has devolved upon any other man since 
the days of Washington. He never would have suc- 
ceeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon 
which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot 
succeed without the same Divine aid which sustained 
him, and on the same Almighty Being I place my reli- 
ance for support, and I hope j-ou, my friends, will all 
pray that I may receive that Divine assistance without 
which I cannot succeed, but with which success is 
certain. Again, I l)id you all an atfectionate fare- 
well.' 

The touching address was given with deep emotion, 
and many of tlio auditors replied to his request for 
their prayers by exclaiming, '"We will pray for you.' 
Thus this devout, simple-hearted, and courageous 
mau went forth to his high task, not leaning on his 
own strength, but humbly trusting in the power of an 
Almighty arm. Those gentle utterances are but the 
key to all the speeches and pi'oclamations which he 
has made during his troubled career. Ifo one ever 
heard him utter a bitter word against the reljels, but 
many have confessed that they felt rebuked in his 
presence, his manner was so calm, his thoughts and 
words were so magnanimous, his great heart was so 
full of gentleness and compassion. And yet it is this 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxi 

man who has been held up to the southern people by 
the lying politicians and most mischievous journalists 
of the south as a kind of human demon who deliglited 
in blood, as a man regardless of law and justice, who 
when he spoke of God or humanity spake but in 
mockery of the sacred name and the sacred rights of 
the people. The southern heart has been fired, as 
the phrase went, by the most furious appeals to the 
passions of an ignorant people against a ruler who 
never would have touched a single southern right or 
harmed a real southern man had these truculent 
politicians not crowned their frenzy by rebellion. 
Even in the midst of the late most sanguinary out- 
burst of ferocity he has mitigated the woes of war, 
and so tempered justice by mercy that not a single 
traitor has perished on the scaftbld. We would that 
we could add that the passions of the southern dema- 
gogues were sought to be assauged by the universal 
efforts of the press and the politicians of those coun- 
tries where the American struggle excited an over- 
whelming interest. But history will proclaim to the 
eternal humiliation of our country how an influential 
section of the English press outbade the journalists of 
the south in their slander and invective against the 
great man who has been so cruelly slain— how his 
every action was twisted and tortured into a wrong, 
his every noble aspiration spoken of as a desire for 
blood, his personal appearance caricatured, his lowly 
origin made the theme for scorn, by men as base-born 



xxii LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

<as he but without tlie nobleiict<s of soul which made 
Lincoln ;i prince among princes — how even that 
proclamation which conferred liberty upon four mil- 
lions of down-trodden slaves was reviled as a base 
effort to incite the negroes to servile war. The men 
who penned those revolting slanders were pn)l)al)ly 
alike ignorant and reckless of their eftect, l)ut it 
cannot hut he a painful reflection to Englishmen that 
the deluded southern rebels were encouraged in their 
eftbrts to destroy a free nation for the purpose of build- 
ing a slave empire on the ruins by the writings and 
speeches of men who coiild boast of free England as 
their country. Their virulent abuse in all probability 
never reached him wliom it was designed to wound, 
and even if the miserable writers had been I'actious 
Americans instead of degenerate Englishmen, Lin- 
coln would have had nothing but a smile for tlieir 
uiaiignant etibrts. Nor had these unworthy etfusious 
any eifeet upon the great body of the people of Eng- 
land. They saw at once the sterling integrity and 
appreciated the high purpose of the American ruler; 
they toiik the universal testimony of the people of the 
country over which he ruled in preference to the 
partisan abuse of the pro-slavery organs, so that long 
before the emancipation proclamation was issued the 
efforts and intentions of Aljraham Lincoln were 
thoroughly understood by the Commons of Great 
Britain. "When, however, the moment had arrived 
for Lincoln calling a race to freedom, and the news 



LINCOLN MEMOSIAL. xxiii 

was received iu this country that, so far as the fiat of 
the President of the United States in the execution 
of his constitutional authority during a state of war 
could strike the fetters from the slave and purge the 
commonwealth from its foul stain, the order had gone 
forth and the slaves had a legal title to their freedom, 
nothing could thereafter shake the faith of the people 
in the liberator. Many touching proofs of the sin- 
cerity of these convictions were atibrded during the 
struggle. In every public meeting of our countrymen 
when the name of President Lincoln was mentioned 
it was received with a burst of ringing cheers. Per- 
haps the most notable occasion was when Henry 
Ward IJeecher addressed the inhabitants of London 
in Exeter Hall. It was at a time when the pro-slavery 
press was most rampant, when for days they had 
been heaping upon the head of Mr. "Ward Beeoher, 
one of the pioneer abolitionists of the north, and 
upon Mr. Lincoln, as the leader of the abolitionist 
party, all the vials of their abuse, and when, if ever, 
it might have Tjeen supposed that the cause of right 
must be overborue by the power of slander and mis- 
representation. No sooner, however, was the name 
of Lincoln mentioned by Mr. Beecher in the course 
of his speech than enthusiastic cheers, which seemed 
as if they would never stop, burst forth from the vast 
assemblage. It was the same everywhere throughout 
the country, and the American people now amongst 
us, stunned and overwhelmed as they are by the news, 



Xxiv LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

may believe that their feeling of an irreparable loss 
is shared in by the vast masses of the English people. 
For, in truth, a man like Abraham Lincoln is elaimcd 
bj" humanity as her own. He was in name and in 
heart an American citizen, and his great work had 
been appointed for him in that new continent where 
two great battles have already been won for human 
freedom ; l)ut he soon showed by his actions and the 
magnanimity of his character that he belonged to that 
illustrious band whose work is for the human race, 
and whose name and fame shall never die out amongst 
men. In his hands was placed a most sacred trust. 
In the United States the right of the majority to gov- 
ern, and perfect freedom to all to take part in the 
business of government, were the basis of the constitu- 
tion. It had never been questioned until the south- 
ern leaders, defeated at the ballot-box, sought to 
achieve by the sword what the}' felled to achieve at 
the polling-booth. The question was the extension 
or the non-extension of slavery, and the ultimate 
issue was the triumph or failure of free institutions. 
We need not recall how triumphantly tlie enemies of 
freedom pointed their tinger in scorn at what they 
called the failure of the experiment of free institu- 
tions. The very uprising of the southern slave power 
was held to be the end of the repultlic. Tlicy never 
dreamed that the obscure man of the people, who had 
been raised to the highest post of honor wliicli it 
was possible for a citizen to fill, would grasp the helm 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. xx\- 

with so vigorous a grasp, and so pilot the ship of state 
among the fearful hreakers as to bring her safe to 
port with colors flying and not a spar lost. Alas ! 
that the firm hand should now he nerveless, the bold 
heart cold and lifeless, and that the cup of joy should 
be so rudely dashed from the lips of the great people 
whom he had so taithfully served in the crisis of their 
destiny ! 

The assassination seems unquestionaljly to have 
been the result of a conspiracy to which various 
southern sympathizers were parties. The villain 
whose hand struck down President Lincoln is stated 
to be a person named J. Wilkes Booth, a brother of 
Edwin Booth, the actor, and in his trunk was found 
a letter which showed that the horrid deed was to 
have been perpetrated on the fourth of March, when 
Mr. Lincoln's second term of ofhce began. It has, 
therefore, been no sudden inspiration of frenzy caused 
by the fall of Richmond, but tlie deliberate calculation 
of cold blooded miscreants. The inl/i'ntion was not 
consummated soonei- because some expected instruc- 
tions, or aid, or encouragement, had not been received 
from Eichmond. We cannot believe that the designs 
of the conspirators were known to and approved by 
the heads of the soutliern government, but it is not at 
all impossible that some leading secessionists may have 
aided in the conspiracy and encouraged its execution. 
It was known that +he earlier attempt when Mr. 
Lincoln was al)out to take office w^as known to and 



xxvi LmCOLX .VJ^MORIAL. 

approved by many persons of influence and standing, 
and more than one influential fanatic in the course of 
the war has openly oti'ered rewards for the heads of 
northern abolitionists. The murder was at length 
eftected in the most cruel and barbarous manner. 
Seated in the theatre at Washington, beside his wife 
and another lady, and attended by only one officer, a 
stranger suddenly made his appearance at the door of 
the box, and stated that he had despatches from 
General Grant. That general had been advertised to 
be present on the same evening, but lie and his wife 
had gone to Burlington on a visit. The simple state 
of the republican President permitted the stranger 
easily to get access to his victim, wlio it would seem 
never turned his head — his thoughts probabl}- far 
away on those fields of battle where so many have 
died that the republic might live. The assassin in- 
stantly raised his pistol and shot the President in the 
back of the head, the bullet lodging in the brain. We 
have as yet uq details of the scene of consternation 
in the theatre, the anguish of Mrs. Lincoln, and the 
despair of the people when they saw one so beloved 
so basely smitten; but there needs no descrii)tion. 
It is easy to imagine it all — all except the unuttera- 
ble anguish of the woman who has been the supjKut 
aud solace of the President during many weary months 
of anxiety and suftering. To his wife Mr. Lincoln 
was tenderly attached. His first action after receiving 
the notice of his election by the Chicago convention 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxvii 

of 1860 as the candidate of tlie repnblican party was 
to leave his political friends with whom he had been 
waiting for the news, and proceed home saying, 
' There's a little woman down at our house would 
like to hear this. I will go and tell her.' The barba- 
rians were not content with this one noble victim. 
About the same time another, and even more callous, 
southern iieud proceeded to the residence of Mr. 
Seward, and, under pretence of carrying medicine to 
the sick chamber, managed to get access to the cham- 
ber where the secretary of state lay suffering from 
his recent accident. Mr. Frederick W. Seward, the 
son of the secretary, attempted to prevent him, but 
was cruelly wounded. A male attendant was stabbed 
through the lungs, and then tlie miscreant sprang 
forward to the lied and stabbed with many wounds 
the statesman who laj' helpless. When the cries of 
the nurse and of a young daughter who was by her 
father's bedside brought Major Seward, another son, 
to his father's apartment, the assassin likewise fell 
upon him and severely wounded him. Most foul 
deed that ever pen recorded or demon perjaetrated ! 
A sick man lying helpless on his couch of pain thus 
barbarously assailed, a son eager to save a father's life 
thus foully wounded ! It illustrates in a yet more 
awful manner the innate barbarism of that system of 
society based on slavery which can breed criminals of 
so deep a dye. The official report of Mr. Stanton, 
which will be found elsewhere, ex]3ressly states that 



xxviii UycOLy MHMOIilAL. 

these deeds of horror were the result of a conspiracy 
among the rehels, and the greatness of the enormities 
must now prove to the workl that the attempt to set 
fire to Xew York, and to destroy in one liorrible holo- 
caust the women and children, the aged and intirni, of 
a populous city was no hallucination of the federal 
government, but a grim realit}- of desperadoes — the 
spawn of the slave power. These are specimens of 
that chivalry of the south over whicrh some English 
men and women have been heretofore shedding maud- 
lin tears. It is a chivalry which can murder a gentle 
and noble man in presence of his wife : which can 
stab a father with furious blows on his sick bed in 
presence of a little daughter who ministers to his 
wants, and which can ruthlessly sacrifice two sons as 
they strive to save a father's life. 

The election of Mr. Lincoln was hailed with de- 
light by the people of the northern states, little dream- 
ing that their right to elect him would have to be 
sustained in so fearful a manner, and when the time 
came for him to proceed to Washington to execute 
the functions of President the whole country watched 
his progress with intense satisfaction. As he passed 
eastwards he had to make speeches at almost every 
town of any note, and many of the expressions which 
then fell from his lips Avere sufficiently remarkable. 
When passing througli Indiana he thus spoke of state 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxix 

rio-hts. 'By the way, in what consists the special 
sacredness of a state ? If a state and a county in a 
given case shouhi he equal in extent of territory and 
equal in numl:>er of inhahitants, in what as a matter 
of principle, is the state hetter than the county? On 
what principle may a state, being not more than one- 
fiftieth part of the nation in soil and population, 
break up the nation, and then coerce a proportionably 
larger subdivision of itself in the most arbitrary man- 
ner? What mysterious right to play tyrant is con- 
ferred on a district of country with its people by 
merely calling it a state ?' In Xew Jersey he made 
use of a characteristic expression, which has been 
frequently quoted since. 'I shall do all that may be 
in my power to promote a peaceful settlement of all 
our difficulties. The man does not live who is more 
devoted to peace than lam, none who will do more to 
preserve it ; but it may be uecessay to put the foot 
down firmly.' How firmly, the south, the north, we 
anfl all meft now know. When raising a flag in 
Philadelphia, he asked whether the Union could be 
saved upon the Declaration of Independence, and in 
answering his own question uttered words which sound 
prophetically after the occurrence which has so trou- 
bled the country — 'If this country cannot be saved 
without giving xqj that principle I was about to say I 
would rather be assassinated on this spot than sur- 
render it" — and his last words on the occasion were 
— ' I have said nothing but what I am willing to live 



XXX 



LINCOLX MEMOHIA L. 



liy. ami, if it lie tlie iileasiiro of Almighty God, die 
Ijy.' lie has stood hy these i)riiK-iples during his life, 
and he had completed the most triumphant defence of 
these principles when called on to die ; hut dying he 
hequeathes a new life to the nation, and heing dead he 
yet speaketh. 

Air. Lincoln's policy was to woo the south to snh- 
mission to the constitutionally expressed will of the 
people hy every argument which would l)e supposed 
to have weight with American citizens. His inau- 
gural address was a pleading with them to give up 
their mad design to hreak up the nation, and it was 
thus he conjured them to think well upon the fatal 
step they were ahout to take: 'lam loth to close. 
We are not enemies, hut friends. We must not he 
enemies. Though passion may have strained it must 
not hreak our honds of affection. The mystic cords 
of memory, stretching from every battle-field and 
patriot grave to every living heart and hearth stone 
all over tliis broad land, will yet swell t^ic chorus of 
the Union, when again touched, as they surely will 
be, by the better angels of our nature.' His appeal 
was vain. The men to whom it was addressed for a 
long series of years had been educating themselves 
into the monstrous delusion that slavery was a Divine 
institution ; that it was the natural basis for society ; 
that a slave empire could be established so powerful, 
that abolitionism would for ever be abashed, and 
southern interests reign supreme. The politicians 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxxi 

clamored for war, the editors wrote up war, the 
clergy preached up a war for slavery, until the poor 
deluded common people rushed blindly into the con- 
flict. The north had no choice ; Mr. Lincoln as the 
President had no choice but to enforce the laws, and 
to use whatever powers the constitution gave him for 
the suppression of the rebellion. This is not the 
place to recount the varied fortunes of the field. In 
the west the national arms were almost uniformly 
successful, in the east the forces of the Union failed 
to capture Richmond until weary years of eiFort had 
been wasted and several successive generals tried and 
removed. But the elasticity of free institutions per- 
mitted of these changes of commanders, and the 
patriotism of the people supported the Pi'esident in 
whatever appointments he deemed best for the fur- 
therance of the cause until by his happy selection of 
Grant, who had proved victorious in the west, and 
Grant's no less admirable appointments of Sherman, 
Sheridan, Thomas and others, the power of the south 
has been completely crushed. President Lincoln at 
first incurred much odium among many sincere 
friends of the slave in this country, and was taunted 
by the supporters of the slave confederac}- because he 
did not from the outset inaugurate an anti-slaverj' 
war. But his true position began to be appreciated. 
Some of the border slave states remained loyal, and 
he could not at once attack slavery witliout encroach- 
ing upon the rights of these loyal people to regulate 



xxxii LTSCOLS MFMOUTAL. 

their own affairs. The northern democrats, moreover, 
polled more than one million of votes, while tlic 
purely abolitionist element anioni;- his own supporters 
was comparatively small. Had he at once raised an 
anti-slavery banner in all likeliliood he would have 
retarded in phu-e of advancing the cause. He re- 
pressed all attempts prematurely to proclaim emanci- 
pation until perfectly satisfied in his own miud that 
he had the constitutional power during a state of war 
to do so, and that the proclamation would tend to les- 
sen the power of the rebels and more speedily bring 
peace to his torn and Ideeding country. The pohcy 
has been tlie saving of the Union. The slaves 
crowded the federal lines in order to gain their free- 
dom, and eagerly availed themselves of the privilege 
to enlist under the federal banners to aid in the free- 
dom of their friends ami lirethreu of the negro race. 
The emancipation proclamation of Abraham Lincoln 
was a grand and sublime act; and when, in announc- 
ing his polic}- to Congress, he declared that they who 
were at the head of affairs in those times could not 
escape history, he truly shadowi'd forth that all wlio 
had in any way contributed to that crowning act of 
justice woiild occupy in history a most conspicuous 
and enviable place. The cause of the Union has 
prospered from the day the proclamation was i.ssued 
until at length the greatest army of the rebels has 
surrendered to the great soldier wliom Pi'esldent 
Lincoln's sagacity selected as the tit man to lead the 
armies of the republic. 



LINCOLN MEMOIilAL. xxxiii 

The personal appearance of Mr. Lincoln has often 
been described. He was six feet four in height, and of 
that thin, wiry build which is somewhat characteristic of 
Americans. But all observers unite in describing his 
countenance as singularly pleasing, and the eye mild 
and gentle. One English observer, not particnlai'ly 
prepossessed in his favour, describes his countenance 
as peculiarly soft, with an almost ieminine expression 
of melancholy. While all observers unite in thus 
describing the late President, those who knew him 
more intimately are equally of one opinion as to his 
disposition being as kind, courteous, and gentle as his 
mild expression denoted. He was never heard to say 
a bitter word against the rebels, but invariably in his 
public proclamations and by his acts he sought to win 
them back to that fealty without undue shedding of 
blood. But with all this gentleness he was inexora- 
bly firm. Men of all parties have gone to him to 
attempt to move him from some of his positions ; but 
while listening- courteously to their statements he 
never failed to indicate that what he had himself re- 
solved, after careful consideration, he should abide by 
until he saw that it was unsuited to the circumstances 
of his country. He had an overflowing and ready 
humor. This trait in his character has given many 
shafts to the venomous slanderers of the great man 
who has been so suddenly removed from his proud 
position ; but it is scarcely necessary to say that all 
the hon-mots attributed to the President are not genu- 

E 



xxxi%' LIXCOLX MK.VOm.lL. 

iue. One slander wliicli has been often repeated by 
his enemies it may be as well to contradict here once 
for all. It lias been asserted and re-asserted, and now 
apparently deemed to be beyond the reach of cavil, 
that Mr. Lincoln, when riding over the field of Gettys- 
burg, called for a comic song to drive away serious 
thoughts. The statement is a gratuitous and baseless 
calumny, invented by those who would as readily de- 
stroy a reputation as the southern assassins would 
wreak their vengeance upon a helpless victim. These 
have, indeed, accomplished the death of a noble- 
hearted pati'iot ; but while they have killed the body, 
they cannot touch his deathless fame, they cannot mar 
his glorious work, they cannot rob him of his immor- 
tal reward." 

In full accord with the sentiments of the English 
press as set forth in these extracts, was the expression 
of the feelings of Englishmen in the various meetings 
of sympathy held in London and at other places. At 
the meeting held in St. James's Hall in London, under 
the auspices of the Emancipation society, on the 
evening of Saturday, the twenty-ninth day of April, 
at which AVilliam Evans, Esq., the president of that 
society, was chairman, the platform was filled with 
members of parliament and tlio leaders of the popular 
party in the metropolis; the hall was crowded with 
people who were unanimously in sympathy with the 
speakers and the object of the meeting; while the 
sombre drapery of the hall, surmounted by the Amcri- 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. xxxv 

can flag, was a mute expression of that deep grief 
for America's loss which iiUed every heart. The 
speeches were no mere formal cxpresious of -horror of 
the crime, or regret for the deatli of a chief magis- 
trate of great eminence and worth. These sentiments 
were indeed uppermost iu the minds of all ; but those 
who met on that occasion were thoroughly at one 
with the people of the north in their great task of 
subduing the slaveholders' rebellion, and building up 
the Union on the more sure and enduring basis of 
freedom. 

From the speeches delivered on that occasion, the 
speech of Mr. W. E. Forster, member of parliament 
for Bradford has been selected as an example of the 
spirit that pervaded the meeting, and as an evidence 
of the similarity of the effect produced by the sad 
event, on the people and the representatives of the 
people, both in England and the United States Mr. 
Forster spoke as follows; 

"The resolution wliich has been entrusted to me, 
and which I now move, is as follows : 

'Resolved, — That this meeting desires to give utter- 
ance to the feelings of grief and horror with which 
it has heard of the assassination of President Lincoln, 
and the murderous attack upon Mr. Seward, and to 
convey to Mrs. Lincoln and to the United States gov- 
ernment and people an expression of its profound 
sympathy and heartfelt condolence.' In moving this 
resolution I wish to say but a few words. There are 



xxxvi LiyCOLN MK.HOIUAL. 

many speakers here this evening, and you will agree 
with me that this is a time at which many should have 
an opportunity of trying to express their feelings, and 
I am sure that all who speak will agree with me in 
saying that we ean tind nii worcls that really can 
express what we feel. This is a time when that tie 
of blood which binds Englishmen to Americans, and 
of which we so often talk, is indeed truly iult. A thrill 
of grief, horror, and indignation has swept throughout 
the length and breadtli of Europe, as this terril)le 
news has been cor.vej'ed to the nations, and it pos- 
sesses the heart of almost every Englishman as though 
some terrible calamity had befallen himself. It is to 
the credit of our country, and it would indeed l)e to 
our shame, were it otherwise, that such is the case. 
With ver}' few exceptions, rich and poor, friends of 
the north, and friends of the south, all are anxious to 
show that they forget all diSerences with our Ameri- 
can kinsmen iu social or political arrangements, all 
disagreements with them in matters of policy, in 
overwhelming sympathy with them in this their most 
sore trial. But while America has thus especial 
claims upon the sympathy of England it certainly 
does preeminently become that society, of which you, 
sir, are the chairman, and all of us, who, though not 
members of that society', have advocated its principles, 
that there should be a restoration of the Union with 
emancipation for its condition- — to take the lead in 
expressing its indignation at the assassination which 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxxvii 

has taken place. The freedom from the bond of 
slavery will be a blessing to this country and to the 
world, and we hasten to come forward to express our 
sympathy when the man v/ho has done so much to 
obtain that result is thus struck down. He was the 
man to whom of all men it would seem that God had 
entrusted the duty of restoriug the Union, and of 
freeing it from slavery, and he has been struck down 
just at that time when he had reason to hope that that 
task, to accomplish which he had been toiling with 
such devotion and such single-minded earnestness, had 
been accomplished. That the commission of such a 
crime as this should have l)een permitted, and permit- 
ted at such a time, may well seem to be a mystery, 
but 

' God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm.' 

And are not the whole of us beginning to see that in 
this civil war which has raged throughout America, 
and in this fearful revolution through which this peo- 
ple are passing, God has been working, and his work 
is still to purge that country and that people from the 
sin of slavery ? But this murdered patriot had read 
the lesson and had learned it. The handwriting upon 
the wall was guiding him. From those words of 
solemn beauty which he was led to utter at his recent 
inauguration, though even then the knife of the assas- 



xxxviii LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

sin was hanging over his head, he saw, it is plain, tliat 
God had willed that this oftence should cease, and that 
there should he woe upon all those, whether in the 
north or in the south, through whom this ofienee had 
come, and if we can thoroughly prophesy any one result 
that will follow from this foul crime, it is this, that 
the offence will all the more speedih- cease, and that 
slavery will be a thing of the past. Like you, sir, I 
do not charge this crime upon the leaders of the 
south. It would he unpardonable of any Englishman 
to add fuel to that fire of anger and to that burning of 
heart from which every American must pray he may 
be preserved, l)}' saying or insinuating that any of 
these leaders either instigated this crime or were 
acquainted with it, but I do trace it to the influence 
of that system of slavery wbieli tliose leaders have 
rebelled and have fought to preserve. Doubtless this 
assassin and his miserable accomplices were men of 
morbid nature and anomalous monsters, but it needed 
the influence of such a social systeni as this — that 
system which gratified every l)ad passion and reeked 
it upon the weak and powerless, and which burnt 
black men alive, and murdered white men because 
they were abolitionists — I say it needed the influence 
of a system like this to train such a miserable man as 
this Booth to become a pai-ricide. Any man who has 
studied the experience of the last few years must feel 
that there is no peace and safety to that country until 
the system of slavery is totally abolished, and if he 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. xxxix 

required further proof that tliere can be no terras 
possible between the Union and slavery, this must 
convince him. I have only one word more to add, 
and that is, that we must not allow the ship that 
leaves our shores to-night to take merely the message 
of our sympathy with the widow and the orphan, and 
with that country which has truly lost its father. I 
am sure this meeting will not be content with merely 
expressing its sympathy with our kinsmen in their 
present calamity, but that we shall express also our 
faith in their future and our contident belief that we 
have so learned the lesson of our common history that 
even at this hour of their need they will show what 
strength a free Christian people have to bear up 
against the blow than which no greater one has fallen 
upon a commonwealth. They will show how they 
can bear up against it without their power being 
paralysed and without any diminution of their self- 
reliance and self-restraint, and may we not also ex- 
press our hopeful trust that those rulers to whom 
God has now entrusted their fate will be so imbued 
with the spirit of the patriot statesman they have just 
lost, and so imbued with the spirit of mingled firm- 
ness and moderation which has been exercised with 
integrity and judgment under circumstances than 
which none were ever more trying, that they will 
carry out the good work he began, and they will 
honor the name of Abraham Lincoln, which will be 
preeminent in all future history, and I hope they will 



xl LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

continue liis work of restoring peace to their country, 
and ensure freedom to all who dwell in it, undisturbed 
even by that temptation of vengeance to which I be- 
lieve they will not yield, but which must beset them 
with a strength proportionate to the unparalleled 
atrocity of the crime which has provided it." 

In view of sentiments such as have been above 
cited, and by comparing them with the utterances of 
the pulpit, of the press, and of popular assemblies in 
this country, we can readily perceive the similarity 
in the manifestations of humanity everywhere, and 
that there are chords in the nature of man which 
wherever and whenever struck by cei'tain influences, 
will vibrate in unison. 

In after years, when the memory of Abraham Lin- 
coln shall remain as the most glorious recollection of 
the times which are now passing, and when his name 
shall have become inseparably linked in the minds of 
men with all that is grand in design and godlike in 
achievement, it may aiFord some slight gratification 
to our descendants to know that we, their ancestors, 
offered our modest but heartfelt tribute of praise to 
his patriotism, his integrity, his magnanimity, and his 
enduring worth. 

B. II. H. 

Troy, November 14th, 1865. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 



FRIDAY, APRIL 14th, 1865. 

At a very late hour, persons conuectecl with the 
telegraph and newspaper offices of the city, were the 
recipients of intelligence that an attempt had been 
made at Washington, early in the evening, to assassin- 
ate several of the officers of the government, and 
that Abraham Lincoln and "William H. Seward had 
received injuries, which it was feared would prove 
fatal. Later messages contradicted these statements, 
and at midnight the few to whom the conflicting tele- 
gi-ams were known, could but surmise as to the real 
import of the news received. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 15th, 1865. 

Early in the morning, the details of the fearful 
tragedy enacted at Washington the evening previous, 
were received by telegraph, and before daybreak the 
worst feai's suggested by the first contradictory reports 
were realized with an intensity of horror unparalleled. 



2 LlXCOLy MEMORIAL. 

The very minute account of the terrible tranKaotion, 
given in the morning papers, left only the faintest 
hope of the recovery of the President and Secretary 
of State. As to the former, even this hope was dis- 
pelled, when a few hours later the news came that 
Abraham Lincoln had died at twenty-two minutes 
after seven o'clock. 

Assassination of President Lincoln and Secretary 
Seward. 

BY GEOKUE EVANS. 

The telegraphic wires convey to us this morning, 
from Washington, the startling and terrible announce- 
ment of the assassination of President Lincoln and 
Secretary Seward. 

Li the case of the President, it appears that he, 
with Mrs. Lincoln, last evening, attended Ford's 
Theatre, and while seated in his private box, and 
during a pause in the play, a man entered the box and 
shot him through the head, the weapon used being 
a common single-barreled revolver. As soon as the 
fact was discovered, the wildest excitement prevailed, 
and amid the tumult the brutal assassin escaped. 
The details are given in full in our telegraphic 
columns. 

Gen. Grant, who it was expected would accompany 
. the President to the theatre, left "Washington during 
the evening for New Jersej'. 

In the case of Secretary Seward, the assassin went 
to his residence, and claiming to be a messenger from 



LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 3 

the Secretary's physician, with mediciue, demanded 
admission to Mr. Seward's chamber. Being refused, 
he used violence towards those who presented them- 
selves, and forced his way into the Secretary's room. 
Mr. Seward was lying in bed, and the cowardly mur- 
derer inflicted several severe, and, it is feared, fatal 
wounds upon his neck and body. 

This intelligence will cast a deep gloom over the 
country. The hearts of the loyal people of the north 
were centred in their President. His honesty and 
sagacity have made him the idol of the nation, and 
just when victory has perched upon our banners, and 
the storm of Avar is about subsiding, and just when 
the intricate and difficult questions relating to the 
reorganization of government in the rebellious states 
called for his calm judgment and wise forethought, 
just at this time to lose his services to the country is a 
calamity which will he deeply felt. In this fiendish 
act the worst fears of many friends all over the 
country, who have watched his movements with 
intense anxiety, are fully realized. We have fre- 
quently heard the fear expressed that something of 
this kind might happen to him. Now the blow has 
fallen, and the nation is called to mourn. 

We give the latest intelligence received down to 
four o'clock this morning. Should we get any fur- 
ther information by six o'clock, we will give it to our 
teailers in a second edition. — Troy Daily Whig. 



4 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Proceedings ix the Rensselaer County Court 
AND Court of Sessions. 

At the opening of the county court and court of 
sessions at the Court House tliis morning. Judge 
Robertson presiding, Martin I. Towusend, Esq., in a 
few brief and feeling remarks, called the attention of 
the court to the fearful intelligence, that during the 
last night, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States, bad been murdered 1>y the hand of an assassin. 
On his motion, seconded by District Attorney Colbj-, 
it was ordered that in consideration of the profound 
respect which this court entertained for Abraham 
Lincoln, the late President of the United States, both 
as an officer and as a man, this court do now adjourn. 
On motion of Mr. Edwin Browncll, the clerk of the 
court, it was ordered that the Court House be appro- 
priately draped in mourning. Ilis Honor Judge Rob- 
ertson then spoke as follows : 

The news of the morning, which has been just 
announced, is sad indeed. It will deeply grieve every 
loyal heart in the land. It is painful beyond expres- 
sion to contemplate the head of this great nation, 
stricken down in an instant by the hand of an assassin. 

For four long years Abraham Lincoln has hd)ored 
earnestly, prayerfully, as few men can labor, to cany 
this nation through a conflict such as the world has 
never before seen. For four long years he has en- 
dured the bitterest scorn and hate of the enemies of 



LINCOLN MEMORTAZ. 5 

his country ; has had heaped upon him all the obloquy 
the heart of traitor could conceive or the tongue of 
traitor utter; yet has he kept on in the path of duty, 
turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, never 
hesitating, never douhting, never uttering a word of 
bitterness or complaint, but devoting all the energies 
of both body and mind to the salvation of his country. 
Tlie whole people had learned to love him and to 
trust him — to have faith in his statesmanship as well 
as in his purity. 

Thus laboring and thus beloved, he lived to see the 
great rebellion crushed, the enemies of his country 
vanquished. In the hour of his country's triumph 
he is taken from us by the hand of a wretch whose 
memory will be execrated by the virtuous of all 
nations to the end of time. Why he Avas thus taken 
we cannot divine. It is enough for us to know that 
it must have been for some wise purpose. The nation 
will mourn, yet bow in submission. 

It is titting that every mark of respect should be 
paid to the memory of the departed. 

I order the proceedings of the court at this time to 
be published, and that tlie clerk enter them in full on 
the minutes. The court will now adjourn. 

Proceedings ix the Police Court. 
At the opening of the court, Thomas l^eary, Esq., 
the police justice, announced the death of the President 
of the United States by the hand of an assassin. He 



M 



6 IJXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

stateil that in view of the general gloom that pervaded 
the comniuuity hy reason of this sad event, it was 
proper there should be a suspension of business on 
this occasion. He then adjourned the court until the 
Monday next following. 

Orders of the jS^ational Guard. 
By general order ISTo. 7, previously issued, a parade 
of the 24th regiment Xew York State Xational Guard 
had been arranged to take place on the 17th instant. 
The parade was postponed, and a funeral salute was 
directed by the following orders : 

Head Qrs. 24x0 Kkcit., N. Y. S. N. G. 
7V»y, April Ibth, 1865. 
General Obdek Xo. 8. 
General order 'So. 7, dated at these head-quarters, 
April 14th, is hereb}- revoked. By order. 

I. McCoxiiiE .Jr., Col. Com'g. 
G. G. Moore, Adj't. 

Head Qrs. 24tu Reot.. N. Y. S. N. G., "1 
Troy, April Ibfh, 18(i.5. / 
SrEci.\i, Ordeu No. 10. 
In compliance with paragra])h 299, general regula- 
tions, it is hereby ordered that a gun shall be fired at 
ever}' half hour, beginning at sunrise and ending at 
sunset to-morrow, the lOtli day of April, the same 
being the day following tlic reception of the otiicial 
intelligence of the death of the President of the 
United States. Captain John M. Landon, command- 
ing Company A, is charged with the execution of the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 7 

above order. It is also ordered that the colors shall 
be displayed at half mast on the several armories of 
this command at sunrise to-morrow, the 16th day of 
April, and remain at half mast until sunset. By order. 
I. McCoNiHE Jr., Col. Com'g. 
G. G. Moore, Adj't. 



The eiiect produced l)y the sad event was such as 
had seldom been witnessed in tliis city. A settled 
gloom rested on every face, and not only women but 
men — strong men — were seen to weep in the streets. 
At an early hour, moved thereto by a common im- 
pulse, business was suspended. Shops, counting rooms, 
offices, warehouses and places of amusement were 
closed, a few shops only remaining open, and those 
not so much for purposes of traffic, as aftbrding 
centres for the discussion of the news and the ex- 
change of words of grief, fear or revenge. Crowds 
thronged about the bulletin-boards which had so 
lately' heralded our final victories, but which now 
promulgated this saddest of stories. At the news- 
paper offices incessant inquii'ies were made for fuller 
intelligence, and this intelligence when printed was 
presented by the daily journals in columns encased 
in mourning lines and borders. Flags which had for 
years past floated in token of victories achieved, and 
which of late had been flung out with the greatest 
manifestations of joy and triumph, were now raised 
at half staff and festooned with crape. Public l)uild- 



8 LIXCOLX MEJfOnrAL. 

ings were draped with tlie emblems of mourning, 
and on tlie front of private dwellings from the poorest 
tenement to the stateliest residence, was to be seen 
some token of the general sorrow. 

All classes of citizens gave themselves up to the 
indulgence of an all-pervading and unatfected grief. 
Men who until now had been silent and apparently 
unconcerned spectators of the events of the last four 
years, or who had openly opposed the course of the 
President in our national troubles, were foremost in 
lamenting his death and deiiloring this culmination of 
our national avoc. Xo chance word which hinted, 
even remotely, aiiprobatiuu of the foul deed, was 
allowed to be uttered with impunity, and a few 
instances of ill timed levity or parlizan bitterness met 
with rebukes so stern and decisive that a repetition of 
the oltence M-as not attempted. From the steeples of 
the city at intervals, during the day, the bells tolled 
out their mournful music, and kept time in solemn 
tone to the sad symphony of every heart. 

About eleven o'clock in the morning His Honor 
Uri Gilbert, the nuiyor of the city, sent private 
messages to the clergy, recommending that the 
various churches be oi)ened for a service of prayer 
and humiliation, in view of the national bereavement, 
at live o'clock in the afternoon. This recommenda- 
tlnn also appeared in the early editions of the after- 
noon .journals. In compliance with the suggestion 
thus made, religious services were held in nuiny of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 9 

the churches at the hour designated. These services 
were necessarily extemporaneous, and an account of a 
few only has been preserved. 

Service at St. John's Church. 

BEV. HENRY C. POTTER, D.l)., RECTOR. 

No service having then been appointed by the 
Bishop of the Diocese, and the occasion being so 
utterly exceptional and unprecedented, the following 
order of service, adapted in part from the English 
prayer book, was used at St. John's (Protestant Epis- 
copal) Church. 



Almighty Lord, before thy throne 
Thy mourning people bend : 

'Tis on thy pardoning grace alone, 
Our prostrate hopes depend. 

Dark judgments, from thy heavy hand, 
Thy dreadful power di.splay; 

Yet mercy spares our guilty land, 
And still we live to pray. 

turn us, turn us, mighty Lord, 

Convert us by thy grace ; 
Then shall our hearts obey thy word. 

And see again thy face. 

Then, should oppressing foes invade, 

We will not sink in fear; 
Secure of all-sufficient aid, 

When God, our God. is near. 



10 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Minister. — The Lord be with you. 

Aiiswer. — Aud with thy spirit. 

Minister. — Let us pray. 

Most mighty God, terrible in tliy judgments and 
wonderful in thy doings toward the children of men, 
who in thy heavy displeasure hast suffered the life of 
our Chief Magistrate to be taken away by the hands 
of cruel aud bloody men; we thy sinful creatures, 
here assembled before thee, do humbly confess that 
they were the crying sins of this nation which have 
brought down this heavy judgment upon us. But, 
gracious God, when thou makest inrpiisiliou for 
blood, lay not the guilt of this innocent lilood (the 
shedding whereof nothing but the blood of thy Son 
can expiate), lay it not to our charge, Ave beseech 
thee, nor let it bo required of us or our posterity. 
Be merciful, Lord, be merciful unto thy people 
whom thou hast redeemed, and Ijc not angry with us 
forever; l)ut pardon us for thy mercies sake, through 
the merits of thv Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amm. 



Almighty Lord God, who by thy wisdom not 
only guidest and orderest all things most suitably to 
tliiiie own justice; but also performest thy pleasure 
in such a manner, that we cannot but acknowledge 
thee to be righteous in all thy ways and holy in all 
thy Avorks : We thy sinful people do here fall down 
before thee, confessing thy judgments were light in 



LINCOLN MEMOIUAL. 11 

permitting cruel meu, sons of Belial, to imbrue their 
hands in the blood of thy servant the President of 
the United States, we having drawn down the same 
by the long provocation of our sin and weakness. 
For which we do therefore, here humble ourselves 
before thee; beseeching thee to deliver this nation 
from blood-guiltiness, and to turn from us and our 
posterity all those judgments which we by our folly 
have worthily deserved. Grant this for the all-suffi- 
cient merits of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Amen. 



Blessed God, just and powerful, who didst permit 
thy servant, our honored Chief Magistrate, to be 
given up to the violent outrages of unscrupulous 
and wicked men, to be mocked and scotied at, and 
maligned, and at the last murdered by them : 
though we cannot reflect upon so foul an act but with 
horror and astonishment; yet do we most gratefully 
commemorate the many excellencies which shone 
forth in the character of thy servant, wliom thou wast 
pleased to endue with an eminent measure of exem- 
plary patience, meekness and charity, before the face 
of all his enemies. And, albeit thou didst suffer 
them to proceed to such an height of violence as to 
kill him, yet hast thou in great mercy preserved his 
successor in office, and by thy wonderful providence 
hast continued to us the triumphs of the cause of 



12 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

these United States of America, and the hlessed 
tokens of speedy and lasting peace. For these, thy 
great mercies, we glorify thy name, through Jesus 
Christ our blessed Saviour. Amen. 



Almighty and everlasting God, whose righteous- 
ness is like the strong mountains, and thy judgments 
like the great deep ; and who h^- that barbarous 
murder committed yesterday upon the sacred person 
of the President of the United States, hast taught us 
that neither the greatest of rulers nor the best of 
men are more secure from violence than from natural 
death, teach us also herebj^ so to number our daj's 
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. And 
grant tliat neither the splendour of anything that is 
great, nor the conceit of anything that is good in us, 
may withdraw our ej-es from looking upon ourselves, 
as sinful dust and ashes : but that according to the 
example of this blessed Martyr, we may press for- 
wai'd in the cause of truth and freedom and right- 
eousness, in faith and patience, humility and meek- 
ness, mortiUcation and self-denial, charity and con- 
stant perseverance unto the end. And all this for 
thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, to whom, with 
thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, 
world without end. Amen. 



LINCOLN MEMORLiL. 13 



St. Mfittheic, xxi. 33-42. 
There was a certain householder, which planted a 
vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a 
winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to 
husbandmen, and went into a far country : and when 
tlie time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants 
to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits 
of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and 
beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. 
Again, he sent other servants more than the first : 
and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he 
sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence 
my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, 
they said among themselves, This is the heir ; come, 
let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. 
And they caught him, and cast him out of the vine- 
yard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the 
vinej-ard cometh, what will he do unto those hus- 
bandmen ? They say unto him. He will miserably 
destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vine- 
yard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him 
the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them. 
Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which 
the builders rejected, the same is become the head 
of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is 
marvellous in our eyes ? 



14 LjyCOLy MEMORIAL. 

HVMN 12. 

God moves in a mysterious way 
His wonders to perform ; 

He plants his footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm. 

Deep in unfathomable mines, 
With never-failing skill, 

He treasures up his bright designs, 
And works his gracious will. 

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take ; 

The clouds ye so much dread 
Are big with mercy, and shall break 

In blessings on your head. 

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust him for his grace : 

Behind a frowning providence 
He hides a smiling face. 

His purposes will ripen fast, 
Unfolding every hour : 

The bud may have a bitter taste, 
But sweet will be the flower. 

Blind unbelief is sure to err. 
And scan his work in vain : 

God is his own interpreter. 
And he will make it plain. 



Prayer for persons under affliction and appropriate 
Collects. 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 15 

Service at the First Presbyterian Church. 

BEV. MAEVIN R. VINCENT, PASTOR. 

A. large audience assembled to participate in the 
service. Prayers were offered and hymns snng 
expressive of the all-pervading sorrow. Short ad- 
dresses were made by the pastor and by members 
of the congregation. The principal address was the 
following : 

Address. 
by martin i. townsexd, esq. 

We are come together to-day, to consider one 
of the saddest events that ever befell a nation. Our 
Chief Magistrate, whom we loved as a father rather 
than reverenced as a ruler, has fallen b}* the hand of an 
assassin, and the nation is in tears. Yet I stand not 
here to mourn for Abraham Lincoln. He has been 
fortunate in a degree rarely attained by mortals. He 
has been spared to fill his full measure of usefulness, 
as well as his full measure of fame. He has seen his 
imperilled country come triumphant out of one of the 
most deadly struggles in which a nation was ever en- 
gaged. He has seen the embattled hosts wliich were 
set in hostile array against her, melt away before the 
serried ranks of his country's armies, and their vaunt- 
ed leaders prisoners of war. In a word, he had seen 
that cause of which he had been called to be the leader 
— the cause of his country, the cause of liumanity — 
crowned bv the blessina; of God, and had come to 



16 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

know that his toils and anxieties during four long and 
dreadful years of darkness and of conflict, were not in 
rain, ])ut had preserved the Hl)erties of his country, 
had secured to her a glorious and happy future, and 
had enrolled his name high upon the record of the 
benefactors of mankind. Mr. Lincoln was more for- 
tunate in his death than in his life. He died in an 
instant, without sorrow or pain. He died in the ma- 
turity of his powers, and in the fullness of his fame, 
before a single mistake had iixed the slightest Idot or 
blemish upon tlie fair shield of his wisdom and patri- 
otism. He died at a moment when every people that 
loves our country was joining in the grand chorus of 
praise, rising to Heaven throughout our own broad 
land. 

It is for our country that I weep. It is for humanity 
that I blush, when I think that any creature who has 
enjoyed the blessings of American liberty, and worn 
the human form, could be found base enough to 
imbrue his hands in the blood of one so loving and so 
beloved, in the blood of one whose heart beat so 
warndy for his fellow men. But this dispensation was 
doubtless designed to teach the American people a 
great and solemn lesson. We have been at school for 
the last four years. "We have been studying as a 
lesson, the brutalizing influence of slavery, not upon 
oppressed black men, but upon the white — the gov- 
erning race. We have seen what miseries have been 
heaped upon our poor, helpless, imprisoned, and suf- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. I7 

fering sons and brothers at the Libby prison, at Salis- 
bury, and that living- Hades, the pens of Anderaon- 
ville ; and we have seen now, that the same fiendish 
spirit, born of slavery, can raise its dastard and assas- 
sin hand, and strike down our best beloved and most 
honored. The man who doubts to-day the wicked 
and debasing influence of slavery upon the white 
population of this country, has been blind to the 
events of the last four years, and would not believe, 
though "one rose from the dead." Indeed, the 
period in which we live is big with lessons of solemn 
instruction. Although we have all admitted, in a 
general way, that God cares for the lowly and the 
humble as well as for men of high degree, we have 
lived to a great extent in a condition of practical 
doubt upon the subject. But to-day we can see that 
not a tear has fiiUen from the ej-e of a bereaved or 
suiiering slave mother, through the length and breadth 
of all our land, that God has not treasured up for 
judgment. And the lesson we are to learn from it is, 
that if any nation wishes to prosper, even for the 
world that now is, that nation must free itself from 
oppression, though practised upon the least of God's 
little ones. 

There is another lesson which we have been set to 
learn in these times. It is the lesson of God's 
sovereignty. I do not mean a sovereignty which ex- 
eludes all agency of man. Eat I moan that God 
overrules the counsels and actions of men in such a 



18 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

manner, as to work out the greatest good for that race 
for whom the world was created and the Saviour died. 
What poor, short-sighted mortal was ahle to foresee 
that the first gun fired upon Fort Sumter sounded 
the knell of slavery ? Who of us, on that gloomy 
day, when good men mourned over the sad defeat of 
the Union forces at Bull Run, could see any silver 
lining upon the dark cloud that enveloped this smit- 
ten land? Yet how clearly now can we see God's 
hand in that dispensation. How clearly now can we 
see that God had a great work to do ; that he meant 
that the shackles of millions of slaves should be 
broken, that they should be broken by the strong 
hands and stalwart arms of the toiling freemen of the 
North, and that he suff'ered defeat to overtake our 
armies, that the loyal of the wliole land should come 
forth fi'om theirfarms and their woi'kshops, and devote 
themselves soul and body to the accomplishment of 
his sacred work. And we have reason to lie thankful 
this day, that we have been spared to see this Avork 
accomplished. Our armies are everywhere triumph- 
ant ; our nation is everywhere lionored ; our land 
is purged of the dreadful plague-spot of slavery ; and 
although God has smitten us in the person of our be- 
loved President, we feel, as we never felt before, that 
he loves our land and our people, and means his 
chastisements only for our good. Let it be ours to 
profit by the solemn lessons which he is teaching us 
in these davs. 



lincoln memorial. 19 

Other Services. 

The service in the Second Street Presbyterian 
Church, consisted of approjDriate music, prayer and 
an address by the pastor, the Eev. Duncan Kennedy, 
D.D. The scene was one of deep interest, and 
the heavy and beautiful drapery of the building, 
served, if possible, to increase the solemnity. The 
address was, for the most part, an expression of deep 
symjsathy in the universal sorrow. The speaker 
directed attention to the mystery that enshrouded the 
dread event, and enforced the duty of Christian sub- 
mission to the inscrutable dispensation, and of unfail- 
ing trust in the superintending providence of God. 

At St. Mary's (Roman Catholic) church, the service, 
under the direction of the pastor, the Rev. Peter 
Havermaus, was solemn aud impressive. The psalm 
Miserere was intoned from the altar and was taken up 
by the choir. The music was grand and effective. 
Suitable prayers were also read at the altar, and such 
remarks were made by the pastor as the occasion 
called for. 

Services of a similar character were held in the 
I^orth Baptist church, Rev. C. P. Sheldon, D.D,, 
pastor ; in the South Troy Methodist Episcopal church, 
Rev. D. T. Elliott, pastor ; in the Second Presbyterian 
church. Rev. D. S. Gregory, D.D., pastor, and in 
other churches in the city, of which no account is 
preserved. 



20 ' LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

The Assassination of the President. 

BY JOHN M. FRANCIS. 

"We have no heart to dwell upon the details of the 
awful calamity. The wail of a great jieople ascends 
to heaven ; the vengeance of a just God, swift as 
lightning-darts and scathing as thunder-bolts, will be 
visited upon the guilty, their murderous associates 
and fiendish abettors. 

Sad, sad beyond the power of language to express,- is 
the loss of our true-hearted, our pure-minded, our trust- 
ed and loving President. He was gentle as a woman, 
yet firm as a Jackson. He loved liis country with the 
pure devotion of a child for its mother. But he had 
the strength of giant manhood and the sagacity of 
astute statesmanship to defend the Union he had sworn 
to support. He was merciful ; he was kind. Never 
was heai't more susceptible to pity than Abraham 
Lincoln's. He was ready to forgive the worst where 
pardon promised reformation, and where there was 
reasonable hope that the interests of the country would 
not be jeopardized by such forgiveness. Even to the 
hour he was killed by the assassin's fire, Abraham 
Lincoln was laboring with all the zeal of his nature, 
with all the abilities of a mind that grasped as if by 
intuition the salient points of great questions, to com- 
pose our national difficulties, to pacify the country, to 
reestablish Peace upon the basis of everlasting Jus- 
tice, — at the same time giving amnesty and offering- 
blessings to those who had sought to destroy the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 21 

Union, to strike dowu civilization, and to ruin a just 
and loyal j^eople. 

" His life was gentle, and the elements 
So mix'd in him, that nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, This was a man!" 

We cannot analyze the character of our deceased 
President here and now. In his hands the future of 
our country was secure. The people trusted him and 
looked up to him as children to a kind, loving, watch- 
ful and nohle hearted parent. The blow that struck 
him down has fired the souls of thousands who 
before were ready to forgive the rebel leaders, and 
offer to them the terms of conciliation and clemency. 
Henceforth, those M'ords are blotted from the lexicon 
of the American people, and nothing short of the 
condign punishment of the guilty wretches who 
plunged this nation in fratricidal war, and who have 
prosecuted their murderous enterprise with the 
ferocity of barbarians, will satisfy the demands of 
the republic. 

The nation mourns; the people are bowed down 
with sorrow, — but every loyal heart, trustful even in 
its awful affliction, feels that the repnblic shall live. 

Abraham Lincoln is dead, but his works shall live 
after him and during all coming time. And his 
memory shall be enshrined with Washington's — 
^' First in the hearts of his countrymen." 

It is a solemn hour. We feel that the republic has 
lost its truest friend, its great protector, its trusted 



22 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

saviour. But thank God, Abraham Liueohi lived to 
save his country. Thank God, he saw the finishing 
blows dealt to the gigantic rebellion. His policy was 
vindicated; the cause nearest his heart had tri- 
umphed. Men die, but principles never perish. — 
Trojj Daily Times. 

Our Duty on this Day. 

BY B. n. HALL. 

In contemplating the horrible crime that has done 
to death the head of this nation, in the most cowardly 
manner known to human demonism, we should still 
think like men, and not allow our better judgment 
to be paralyzed by devices of vengeance. We can 
not believe that the act of the assassin of President 
Lincoln can awaken much sym}iathy in the hearts of 
any except the most virulent and abandoned traitors, 
and we hazard the conjecture that when the circum- 
stances of the act become fully known, but very few 
will be found implicated in it. Let us not, then, talk 
about visiting vengeance on a whole people, many of 
whom are now subdued, for this crime of a few. 

God is our witness, that none feel more deeply than 
we, the terrible significance of this dastardly crime. 
On the day when a large portion of Christendom was 
commemoi'ating in litanies and tears the atrocious 
death of the Saviour of men, Abraham Lincoln, the 
type of human rights and progress, fell by the hands 
of a man imbued with the same si)irit that crucified 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 23 

that Saviour. Ou the day in which the flag of our 
country was again raised over the walls of a nation's 
redeemed fortress, the guiding spirit that had brought 
about that redemption passed out of its murdered 
body. Indiscriminate vengeance is neither lawful, 
Christian nor human. The mysteries of Providence 
are beyond our ken, but for all this our hearts should 
be strong, not troubled; our faith uplifting, not 
drooping. Let the ministers of God, as they this day 
lead their people in acts of solemn devotion, remind 
them that vengeance belongs to Him and the laws of 
the country. What may be in store for this dis- 
tracted and bleeding land is locked in the bosom 
of Omniscience. Of one thing, however, we are 
assured, and that is, that he who has led us on in 
triumph through four years of struggle, will not now 
desert us. As for the southern people, the hand that 
held out to them the chalice of tenderest mercy is 
extended in death, and they as well as we have lost 
the best earthly friend. Let us pause, ere we draw rash 
conclusions, and then perhaps sounds from above 
may reach us, and a vision be granted of things 
beyond the terrible present. 

" At last I heard a voice upon the slope 
Cry to the summit : Is there any hope ? 
To which an answer pealed from that high land, 
But in a tongue no man could understand ; 
And on the glimmering limit, far withdrawn, 
God made Himself an awful rose of dawn." 

Troy Daily Times. 



24 LlXCOiy irEMORIAL. 

The ISTatioxal Calamity axd Humiliation. 



BY F. B. HUBBELL. 



All public interest to-day mournfully centres upon 
the tragic death of the President of tlieUnited States by 
the hands of an assassin! Wliat words to write I 
What a sentence to burst upon the public ear, so 
recently filled with rejoicings of the populace, whose 
heart beat quicker because the nation was emerging 
from scenes of blood and carnage to enjoy once more 
the blessings of an honored and bravely won peace, 
and because the flag of the union was once more to 
float over an undivided country ! » 

President Lincoln expired at twenty minutes past 
seven o'clock this morning, April 15, ISGo. He died 
in the service of a grateful country, while yet his 
brow was freshly crowned with the highest honors 
the republic could bestow. His name is given 
immortality, and to-day is enshrined in the heai-ts of 
millions who in his life dissented from his policy and 
denied him their sufl:rages. 

Under such a calamity, words are feeble, and seem 
idle. The suddenness of the shock well nigh palsies 
the powers of speech and thought. Men, friends, 
pass each other on the street, without the usual recog- 
nition, because the mind is too busy with itself, and 
silence is the natural language of sorrow. 

Until this deplorable event, for weeks the prospects 



LimjOLN MEMOIilAL. 25 

of the country had beeu gradually brightening. 
Foremost in the heaven-blessed work of peace and 
conciliation, had been President Lincoln. Already 
had the fruits of his policy, during his brief visit to 
Richmond, began to reveal themselves in the import- 
ant appeal made to the Virginia legislature by the 
leading men of that state. Disregarding all appeals 
to return to Washington, heeding not for a moment 
suggestions of personal danger, he remained in the 
late rebel capital, simply because he believed his 
presence and influence there could aid an honorable 
and speedy close of the war : and every day's devel- 
opments plainly demonstrated that he judged rightly. 
Upon no class in the country does this calamity fall 
with more crushing weight than upon the union men 
of the south, who had justly and naturally come to 
look to President Lincoln as the pilot who was to 
bring the nation safely through all dangers. 

This hope is now gone, and clouds loom up in the 
future. "I^ew masters, new laws." The President 
had adopted a policy which was becoming well under- 
stood, and which was rapidly receiving the unanimous 
favor of the best minds of men of all parties north 
and south. The hopes built upon this happily chang- 
ing feature in our aftairs disappeai's. What was 
reasonable certainty now becomes the greatest uncer- 
tainty. The rolling, boisterous sea is before us, aud 
the ship is in the hands of untried mariners. 

From the time it was known Mr. Lincoln was 
4 



2(3 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

elected fur the second term, party opposition to him, 
or his administration, was modified to a degree never 
known ou the accession of a president to oHice. Tlic 
teri'ible crisis the countr}- had passed throngh liad 
softened asperities, and men began to consider their 
duties in the higher relations to country — to saving 
the republic from utter ruin. Day by day this modi- 
tied sentiment was growing stronger. While some of 
the President's early and hitherto most steadfast 
friends felt impelled to diii'er with liis views and with- 
hold approval of some of liis acts, the party which 
had opposed the President gave unerring signs of a 
disposition cordially to sustain him. 

Humanly speaking, we believe tlie lives of Abra- 
ham Lincoln and William H. Seward were of more 
value to this country, in the crisis we are passing- 
through, than the lives of any two meu in the world. 
Their experience during the past four years, their 
familiarity with all cpiestions — domestic and foreign 
— the anxious desire of both to see the great internal 
controversy closed, their ability to rise above small 
to grasp and make secure great interests, and the fact 
that both had the contidence of the country, and that 
to both was assigned the helm for four years to come, 
made them the nation's hope, as far as uien confide in 
men. But God is over all. The devisings of mortals 
are nothing. For some inscrutably wise purpose, the 
Almighty atHiets this people. — 7'/v<y Daihi Firss. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 



Abraham Lincoln. 

BV JAMES S. THORN. 

There arc little knots on the corners to-day, 

And with bated breath they utter 
Not alone a dirge o'er th' inanimate clay, 

But avenging whispers mutter. 

There are aching hearts in the households to-night; 

There are eyes that are red with weeping ; 
And tender hearts, oh not bursting quite, 

In the gall of despair are steeping. 

They are sobbing to day on the old camp-ground. 

And spirits undaunted by foeman, 
That trembled not when the battery frowned, 

Are blanched as the cheek of woman. 

Conies a nation's wail o'er her prostrate son. 
For her joy has been changed to sorrow : 

She fears there's the dusk of doubt beo-un 
And alas! who can tell the morrow? 

So pure and so wise, aye, so grandly good. 

Sic semjMi- ti/rannis belies him : 
Greatest of living men he stood ; 

Bying, the world shall prize him. 

Though the head lies low, yet the body lives : 
There are heart-strings that death cannot sever : 

He taketh away, but yet He gives, 
And the Union shall last forever. 

Wo are tasting to-day of the bitter cup : 

Oh lesson, we heed thy warning. 
We knofl' but One who can lift us up : 

'Tis night, it will yet be mornins. 



28 LlXCOiy MEMORIAL 

The dead of to-day will grow divine 

Like the max'tyrs of ancient story, 
And with Washington's, Lincoln's name shall shine 

On the scroll of our country's glory. 

Tro>/ Dailn Times. 

Saturday, April 15th, 18CS. 



Later iu the day appeared tlie proclamation of 
Reuben E. Feu ton, governor of the state, and the 
reconimeudatiou of Horatio Potter, bishop of the 
diocese of New York. They are here inserted 
because they form a part of the histor\' of the occa- 
sion, and served to give direction to some of the 
religious services of the subsequent days. 

Proclamation by the Governor. 

The fearful tragedy at Washington has converted 
an occasion of rejoicing over national victory into one 
of national mourning. It is fitting, therefore, that 
the 20th of April, heretofore set apart as a day of 
thanksgiving, should novs' be dedicated to services 
appropriate to a season of national Itereavemeut. 

Bowing reverently to the providence of God, let 
us assemble in our places of worship on that day, to 
acknowledge our dependence on him who has 
brought sudden darkness on the land in the very 
hour of its restoration to union, peace and liberty. 

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand 
and atfixed the privy seal of the state, at the city of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 29 

Albany, this fifteenth day of April, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five. 
By the Governor: R. E. Fenton. 

Geo. S. Hastings, Private Secretary. 

Recommendation of Bishop Potter. 

New York, April 15th, 1865. 
To the Clergy and Laity of (he Diocese of Neio York — 
Dear Brothers: With agony which I have no lan- 
guage to express, I appeal to you to ofter up your 
prayers for this bereaved and mourning nation. The 
beloved and revered Chief Magistrate of the United 
States is no more. The malignant passions which 
have just proved impotent to destroy the government, 
have successfully done the assassin's work upon the 
life of its honored head. A glorious career of service 
and devotion is crowned with a martyr's death. I 
request most respectfully that to-morrow, and for the 
next two weeks, the prayer for a person under atflic- 
tion be used for the country with these slight 
changes: Instead of "the sorrows of thy servant," 
read " the sorrows of thy servants, the people of this 
nation;" and instead of "him" and "his," read 
"us" and "ours." I also appoint the prayer in time 
of war and tumults to be read. I would also recom- 
mend that after the solemnities of the Easter Sunday 
shall have been concluded, the churches of the diocese 
be clothed in mourning. Praying God to give you 
his blessing, and to sanctify this sore bereavement to 



30 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

oiir beloved country, I rciiiaiii j-onr iifi'eetioiiate liro- 
ther in Christ. 

Horatio Potter, BisLop of Xew York. 

Citizens" Meeting. 

At a large meeting of citizens, held at St. Nicholas 
Hall, on Saturday evening, April loth, to give ex- 
pression to public feeling on the recent murder of 
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, 
Charles Edd^- presided, and Charles E. Davenport 
was Secretar}-. On motion, a committee of tive — 
William Hagan, J. M. Hawlcy, N. Davenport, Alder- 
man Cox and W. !N^. Barringer — were appointed to 
draft and report resolutions. The meeting was 
addressed by S. R. Clexton, D. A. Wells, 1'. H. 
Baerman, W. X. Barringer and Rev. ^Ir. R. R. ^lere- 
dith. The committee reported the following resolu- 
tions, which were adopted : 

Vi'hereas, We have heard with profound sorrow in 
this hour of our country's peril, of the death of the 
chief magistrate of the nation, Abraham Lincoln, by 
the hand of an assassin, therefore 

Besolved, That, although we feel deeph- on this 
subject, yet, l)elieving in an overruling Providence, 
we strive calmly to submit, with the thought that our 
lamented President may have finished the work given 
him to do, and that God will raise up a man to com- 
plete the work so nearly accomplished of reuniting 
our country in bonds of perpetual union. 

Besolved, That we hope all loyal citizens will pay a 
proper respect to the day set apart by the Governor 



LI2iC0LN MEMOIUAL. 31 

of this State for religious services appropriate to this 
sad national calamity. 

Resolved, That we have full coniidence in the patri- 
otism and will of Andrew Johnson to finish the work 
of restoration so ably commenced by the late Presi- 
dent. 

Besolred, That this hall be draped iu mourning for 
the residue of the year in testimony of respect for the 
memory of the able and patriotic statesman, Abraham 
Lincoln, late President of the United States. 

Charles Eddy, Chairman. 

Chakles E. Davenport, Secretar}'. 

SUNDAY, APEIL 16TPI, 18G5. 

"HUXG BE THE HEAVENS WITH BLACK." 

BY C. L. MAO ARTHUR. 

"We stand appalled before the awful tragedy M'liich 
has been precipitated upon the American people. 
Words are tame to express the agonies of the na- 
tional heart. The tongue is dumb, and paralyzed in 
tlie etfort to speak the great feelings of the hour. 
The President of the United States, in the calm mo- 
ment of repose, surrounded by his family and trusted 
friends, in the midst of an assemblage of thousands 
where were gathered the talent and be^;uty of the 
Federal Capital, is suddenly shot by an assassin ! Can 
any thing in the possible range of human events be 
more agonizing, tragic and appalling ? In atrocitv, 
yes. The great and gifted Secretary of State, lying 
on his sick bed, wan and emaciated, Avith a broken 



32 Liyx'OLy memojual. 

arm and a fractured jaw, with the balance vibrating 
doulitfully between life and death, is approached in 
the dead hour of night by an assassin, and the 
dagger is mercilessly thrust at the throat and the heart 
of the victim ! That such fiendish acts could be per- 
petrated by any one bearing " the human form divine," 
make us shudder to belong to the same race. Tlie 
heart sickens at the recital of these facts, and the pen 
unwillingly records them. We present elsewhere the 
fullest details of this awful tragedy which have reached 
us. We refrain from further comment. — Trot/ News. 

Extract from a Sermon Preached at St. John's 
(Episcopal) Church ox the Morning of Easter 
Sunday. 

BV KEV. HEXKY C. POTTER, D.D. 

*********** jj. ig j,j view, supremely, of 
our bereavements, that the great fact of which this 
Easter Morning is at once the seal and proclamation 
— the fact I mean of the resurrection — is so precious. 
Death loses, indeed, but little of its mystery, but it is 
robbed forever of its terror. Our friends are borne 
away out of our sight but we know that they have not 
perished. All that was most central to their charac- 
ter and personality shall, one day, live again. The 
mortal eyes with which so lovingly they looked upon 
us may, verily, have been closed, but the radiant ten- 
derness that shone in them, has, believe me, an en- 
during existence. The lips that smiled encourage- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 33 

ineiit upon our weariness, and uttered their word of 
reassurance in our ear may, trul^', have been sealed 
in death forever ; but Ijoth sniiie and speeoli, through 
Chi'ist, shall live again, in an existence as real, as 
tender, and ineffably more glorious than before. The 
hand that once held ours and pledged its constant 
friendship in its loving grasp, may long ago have re- 
laxed its steadfast hold and chilled and stiftened in 
the gi'ave, but the constancy and fidelity ^^■hich it 
silently uttered, have no more piei'ished than the 
being and character of him, of whom they were the 
expression. T know not irlixd that body shall be, but 
I do know that God will give to every ransomed soul 
a body, " as it halh pleased Him." Death is no 
longer a master liut a servant — no longer a victor 
over human hopes, but a gleaner of human treasures 
into the everlasting garner of the Lord! In that 
store-house all the sweetness and beauty and nobility 
of the past, as of the present and the future, shall be 
gathered. Tiie virtue of martyrs; the sweet inno- 
cence of childhood ; the glories of patriotism, uplift- 
ing itself above the level of our common life, like 
yonder mountains ; the fragrance of self-sacrifice and 
faith and love — all these shall somehow be embodied 
in that resurrection unto life, which the Master's vic- 
tory on this Easter Morning purchased tVn- his people 
forever ! 

And this, as it is our supreme and oidy consolation 
ill all our private sorrows, so it must be in view of 
5 



34 LTNVOLN MEMOlilAL. 

tluit tragedy of horror, bot'ore wliicli. tliis nioniinu', 
11 nation stands agliast. Ali I Imw darkrnud is our 
Easter-feast to-day. Tlie sun risus, as of old. to 
usher in the morning when the Loid of life and glory 
rent assunder tlie bars of the grave' and hrouglit life 
and immortality to light; but the .shadow of an over- 
whelming grief is upon us, and we cannot raise our- 
selves to the gladness of the occasion. Tlie Piaster 
fact is here. God forbid, that now, of all times, we 
should for a moment forget it I r>ut the trappings of 
our common woe mingle with our Easter Idossoms, 
and our songs are mixed with tears. '• Tlie malig- 
nant passions which have just jiroved impotent to 
destroy the government, have successfully done the 
assassin's work upon the life of its honored head." 
A glorious career of service and devotion, rendered, 
much of it, amid the scoru and obloquy of foreign and 
domestic traitors ; a career often impeded by the 
timid and time-serving unfaitlifulncss of professed 
friends, is crowned with a martyr's death. The bar- 
barism of slavery, incarnated, first, in the brutal bully 
of the senate chamber, then in a monstrous and fiend- 
ish rebellion, with all its violation of the most sacred 
oaths, and its ingenious and demoniacal cruelty to 
prisoners, and now most fitly impersonated in the garb 
and weapon of the assassin, has struck its last idow at 
our beloved and I'evered chief magistrate. But, ah ! 
thank God, how impotent a blow ! How little of our 
great ruler has perished I xV devout though self-dis- 



LINCOLN MEmnUAL. 35 

trustful follower of his Master; sjjending tlae earliest 
moments of the day amid all the i^ressure of his high 
responsibility, (as those who then sought him learned), 
in communion with the source of all wisdom; bearing 
his gentle testimony, as I heard uot long ago, from 
one to whom he said it, that he loved and leaned ou 
Him who is the strength and righteousness of them 
that trust him ; brought to the Master, as have been 
so many, by that which took from him the darling of 
his eyes — how surely may we believe that the best 
and highest part of him is forever immortal, and, that 
just as his memory will live among us, and grow 
brighter and more radiant as the ages roll along, so is 
he himself even now, alive from the dead, ere long to 
take on that spiritual body which God giveth to them 
that have pleased him ! 

And, therefore, let not the notes of our mourning 
stifle those of our gratitude and hope — gratitude and 
hopafor him whom we have lost, and praise and thanks- 
giving to the blaster, who, in this, as in all our sor- 
rows, gives us, on this Easter morning, the clea.r and 
unclouded assurance of the life which is to come ! 
For that life, feeling more keenly than ever, this 
morning, how tleeting are all the goodly shows of this, 
let us earnestly look and long, until, with us, too, as 
with patriots and saints and martyrs who have gone 
before us, this mortal shall put ou immortality and 
death be swallowed up in victory ! 



36 LIXCOLy .VEMOIilAL. 

Sketcu of a Sermon Preached in tue State Street 
Methodist Episcopal Church, on Sunday Morning. 

BY EEV. S. 1). BROWN. 

Triixl ye in the Lord forever ; for in the Lord Jehovah i.i everla.iting 
flreni/th. — Isaiah, xxvi, 4. 

The nation is in mourning. Its head has been 
stricken and now lies low in death, and the chief of 
its councillors stands ready to depart. No language 
can describe the shock, as yesterniorn the disastrous 
tidings reached us. For the moment, it seemed as if 
the veiy foundations had given way, and even hope 
was lost. 

The President of our republic is dead, the victim 
of a base assassin's power. Seldom, in the history of 
modern times, has the head of a great nation lieen 
assassinated. In Pome, in the days of her corruption 
and decline, assassination of rulers was common; l)ut 
in later years it has seldom occurred. Our nation is 
now among those \\'hose chief has fallen by the blow 
of the murderer. 

We have but partially recovered from the shock. 
It is not yet time fully to gather up the lessons of the 
hour, much less to eulogize the departed. Yet it 
seems fitting, that allusion should be made to this 
sad event. It is the voiee of God, and the pulpit 
should to-day, nud-ce an ap[ilicatiou to the hearts of 
the people. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. %1 

I have had no thne for preparation. Busil}- en- 
gaged during the day, I had hut a few moments late 
at night, to throw my thoughts into awj systematic 
form, and can give you only those thoughts which, 
amid busy cares, have been passing through my mind. 

It seems mysterious that God should have permit- 
ted this dire tragedy. Other diabolical plans have 
been formed, but they have been signally foiled by an 
unseen hand. God could have prevented this also, 
but he has allowed it to be successful, why? It 
reveals the vanity of all confidence in man, the insta- 
bility of all of earth. 

During the last four years, there have been seasons 
of doubt and perplexity. We had passed through 
these and were now confident — confident in him. 
When, a few months since, he was reelected, men 
felt that all would be well, that he would lead the 
nation to victory and peace. He was inaugurated 
with greater solemnity tlian any who preceded him. 
Scarcely a month passes and the hope of the nation 
is dead. 

This calamity comes amid victory. The shouts of 
a jubilant people have died away in a piercing wail. 
The past few months have been months of continued 
triumph. ]tfever did so many events happen in the 
history of any people in a single month, as have in 
ours, during the last four weeks, culminating in the 
fall of the rebel capital, the surrender of their proud- 
est chief and o-randest armv. 



38 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

How quickly has this nhange come ! At tlie opening 
of the week the national heart was buoyant. Bells 
were ringing, flags flying, drums beating, and people 
shouting, from Maine to the Rooky mountains. Yet 
ere the week closed, the nation is bowed with this 
great sorrow. 

And it is what we least expected. Defeat to our 
arms we thought possible, for it is the tortune of war, 
but none anticipated or even thought of such an event 
as this. 

It has occurred not oidy in the midst of general 
rejoicings, but on the evening of that day, when the 
flag of our country was again thrown to the breeze, 
from the ruins of Sumter. The anniversary of the 
opening of the war was celebrated amid omens of 
returning peace. Huw impressively does it then 
teach the vanity of human hopes. But it is also 
designed and calculated to lead us nearer to God, to 
prompt to higher trust in him. "Trust ye in the 
Lord." This has been the great lesson of this war. 
"\Ve entered it with contidence in the resources and 
prowess of the nation, but in the tii-st great struggle 
were defeated. How the national heart sunk as the 
tidings of that disaster flew along the wires. Then 
men began to look to a higher power for aid, and 
earnestly pray. 

The men in whom we have most trusted have 
failed. There is not a num in a prominent position 
in the army to-day, who was so at the opening of the 



LINCOLN MEMOniAL. 39 

war. Some have fallen, others have retired. Tlie 
vietoi'v has been acliieved by men who had no pre- 
vious militarv fame to e.xcite confidence. Defeat has 
come when we were most confident, victory when we 
were depressed and looked to God. 

The clonds of war were now passincr. We felt 
that wo had tlie right man to reconstruct this nation, 
and confided in his wisdom. But at the moment 
when we need statesmanship rather than military 
genius, he lias fallen. Perhaps we were trusting too 
much in him. Has not the nation felt the need of 
reliance upon God as never before? Such at least 
have been my feelings. [N'ever in my history did I 
feel as now, that tliere is none other in whom man 
may trust. 

God has a purpose in permitting tins great evil. 
Our late President had nobly acted his part and car- 
ried us successfully through the struggle. And his 
name shall be honored by the latest generations of 
men. But may not another instrument, a nmn of 
different character be needed at the present moment V 
It is a singular fiiet, that the two most fiivorable to 
leniency to the rebels have been stricken. Otlicr 
members of the government were embraced in the 
fiendish plan, but as to them, it failed. May it not 
be, that God is teaching that those guilty of the o^reat 
crime of treason shall receive condign punishment 'r 
We consign to death the man who murders one; they 
have murdered thousands. Thev have labored to 



40 LI-XCOLS MEMORIAL. 

overtlirow iV government instituted l)_y Goil ami wliicli 
was tlie liopc of humanity. God dt'signs tliey sliall 
be punished, not for the purpose of retaliation, but to 
deter others; not to gratify feelings of revenge, but 
to save posterity. Clemency and magnanimity are 
virtues in some circumstances, in others they are but 
weakness. Clemency to the guilty is cruelty to the 
innocent, and sad will it be for the nation, if our 
treatment of the leading traitors proclaims that trea- 
son is not esteemed a crime. 

This event will exert another important influence. 
In this war wc have demonstrated, to the confusion of 
European statesmen, that a government may he free 
and liberal in its character, and yet possess strength 
to maintain itself. And now, we arc proving that 
this strength is not in its elected he:id, but in the 
body of its people. The President dies but tlie peo- 
ple live, and hence the power abides. Abraham 
Lincoln expires, and in a lew hours, his successor is 
quietly inilucted, and to-day the government is 
moving on as if nothing had occurred. There will 
be no shock, the armies will not be turned from their 
course, flnancial and commercial interests will not be 
disturbed, and even governmental securities will 
scarcely be affected. 

But especially are we admonished to trust in the 
Lord. "We are prone to rely upon the human instru- 
ment. AYe relied on Lincoln and God took him. 
We liave been distrustful of bis .successor. Then 
should we look bevond him to God. 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 41 

In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He 
can carry out his own purposes. This event, 
calamitous as it is, can be overruled for the nation's 
good. The history of the world evinces this. When 
Christ was crucified, his enemies felt they had fully 
triumphed. The disciples were in despair. That 
Saturday he lay in the grave was to them much like 
the yesterday to us. But that event, apparently so 
calamitous, became the corner stone of the Christian 
system. "When James was slain, Stephen stoned, 
Peter and John thrown into prison, and the disciples 
driven from Jerusalem, all appeared dark and 
gloomy : but a new impetus was given to the work. 

A few 3'ears since, 0}tr church sent its first mission- 
ary to Liberia. The church was enthusiastic. A 
few months passed and tidings came that our 
devoted missionary was sleeping in the sands of 
the African coast. Depression followed and we felt 
that the African mission was buried in the grave of 
Cox. But his dying cry "Let a thousand fall rather 
than Africa be given up," roused the church, and the 
mission lives and prospers. " God buries his work- 
men but carries on his work." 

The early part of the struggle for freedom in 
Holland was mostly sustained by the personal efforts 
and influence of William, Prince of Orange. Others 
faltered and failed; h-e stood lirm. Others despaired; 
he was confident, and by his zeal and perseverance he 
conducted the nation through long years of conflict, 
G 



42 LiyCOLy MEMORIAL. 

uutil the hope of Holland's freedom l)ecame bright 
aud cheering. Yet, when the dagger of the a>sas:<in 
struck his heart, as it has now reached tlie heart of 
our President, it seevucd the knell of every hope. 
The feeling of Holland has been parallele<l only by 
ours. But God raised up other agents to complete 
the work he had so nobly prosecuted, and, although 
he lived not to see it, Holland was free. 

So will it be in our case. The Lord Jehovah liveth 
aud will provide other agents in the place of him 
who has fallen. The officers of our army failed, but 
God raised up Grant and Sherman and Sheridan. 
He can as easily provide statesmen. 

Then let us trust in the Lord, for in him is crcrhist- 
ing strength. Enemies may strike down princes, but 
cannot palsy the arm Divine. The late President 
shall not see it, but God will carry the nation 
through. 

"All things work together foi- good to them who 

love God, to them who arc the called according to his 

purpose." Hath not God chosen tliis nation, and will 

he desert it now? Is it not a Christian country, 

doing more for men than any other on the earth, and 

will he suffer it to be destroyed ? Xever ! But tliis 

our fair republic, under the protection of Heaven. 

shall long renuiin, a blessing to mankind and a model 

for the world. ^■ 

*The sermon of which the alidvc i> Ji .=;ketch, was in thi main 
extemporaneous. In a note to t!ie editor, the writer says : — " JIany 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 43 

Sermon Preached in the African Methodist 
Episcopal Zion Church. 

BY KEV. JACOB THOMAS. 

Know ye not that there is a prince and a yreat man fallen this day in 
Israel? — 2 Samuei, iii, 38. 

jSIy friends, we meet at this hour with sad hearts. 
We have been stricken. The blow has fallen heavily 
upon us, and a nation mourns to day. Truly a prince 
and a great man in Israel has fallen. We cannot 
Ijut weep bitter tears that so great and good a man as 
Abraham Lincoln, has been cut down iu the midst of 
his usefulness by a death so cruel. At the moment 
he was about to realize the great results of his four 
years labor, just as victory had perched upon our ban- 
ners, he fell a martyr to freedom. AVe shall never 
look upon his like again. 

A few days ago joy and gladness filled evfay heart. 
All who were loyal to the government rejoiced and 
gave thanks to Almighty God because of the victory 
won, the downtall of tlie rebel capital. This intelli- 
gence was too glorious to be unalloyed. Ere our joy 
had subsided, sorrow overtook us. ISTews reached us 
from Washington of the bloody deed per2)etrated 
tbere. We would not believe it. It could not be 

ol' the thouglit.s were suggested by the excitenieut of the hour, and 
eauuot now be recalled. I have, therefore, simply copied the brief 
supplying such additions and explanations only, as were necessary to 
make it iutelligiljle." 



44 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

poMsiljle tuat a creature in tlie form of man conld be 
found so God-forsaken, as to take the life of the man 
who had malice for none but charity for all I The 
hours between the first rumor and the confirmation of 
the report, were hours of dreadful suspense. But the 
truth came at last. There was no longer room for 
doubt. It was too true, that on last Friday evening, 
whilst enjoying at a place of amusement a few mo- 
ments of relaxation from toil, accompanied by his 
wife and a few friends, unconscious of danger near, 
he was brutally murdered — shot down by the cow- 
ardly hand of an assassin. Palsied be the tongue, 
withered be the arm of the guilty, execrable wretch 
who committed this, tlie blackest of all crimes. Yes, 
our dear President is no more. The beloved of his 
country, the father and friend of the oppressed, the 
champion of universal freedom, has fallen a victim 
to southern malice and revenge. Kind heaven weeps 
to-day over the bloody spectacle. 

We, as a people, feel more than all others that M'e 
are bereaved. We had learned to love Mr. Lincoln 
as we have never loved man before. We idolized his 
very name. We looked up to him as our saviour, 
our deliverer. His name was familiar with our chil- 
dren, and our prayers ascended to God in his behalf. 
He had taught us to love him. The interest he mani- 
fested in behalf of the oppressed, the weak and those 
who had none to help them, had won for him a large 
place in our heart. It was something so new to us to 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 45 

see such sentiments manifested by the chief magis- 
trate of the United States that we could not lielp but 
love him. Is it to be wondered at that we mourn to- 
day ? N"ay, we have seen old gray-headed men and 
young maidens weep because of this affliction. Had 
disease attacked him and he had passed away accord- 
ing to the natural course of nature, we could have 
consoled ourselves with the thought that it was God's 
will it should be so. But falling as he did by the 
hand of the wicked, we derive our consolation only 
from the assurance that by his uprightness, his hon- 
esty and his principles of Christianity, he is now en- 
joying that rest that remains for the just. 

Our text is a fitting one for the occasion. A great 
man has fallen. From whatever stand-point we view 
Mr. Lincoln, we find in him the marks of true great- 
ness. A few years ago this plain, homely lawyer was 
scarcely known outside of his own state. But how 
soon did he become the point of attraction. Not only 
Avas he the centre of observation in this countrj', but 
the civilized world was watching him. He far ex- 
ceeded the expectations of all men. He became as the 
ark of safety to his country, the praise and glory of 
his fellow men. To us as a despised people, he was a 
second Moses — a second Daniel in wisdom. From a 
humble position in life he reached the very summit of 
honor, occupied the highest seat that it was in the 
power of the American people to give him, and filled 
that seat as no man ever filled it before him. The 



4tJ LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

iiiiud tliat coueeivedand drew w^ the Proclamation of 
Emancipation was a great mind. Tlie results of this 
grand deed are patent to all. He was a philanthropist 
in the most extensive sense of the word — benevolent, 
kind, and ever ready to make others liappy. One of 
the most prominent features in the character of our 
departed friend was his merciful disposition even to- 
wards his foes. Ho was strictly honest: this is admit- 
ted by liis worst enemies. "Honest Abe," he was 
familiarly called by all classes. He was honest with 
his people, honest to himself honest to his God. This 
is what God requires of all men, to be honest in lieart. 
The exterior of this great man may have been plain, 
liomely and awkward, but the interior was beautifully 
finished and furnished with Christian graces. It was 
his reliance upon God that carried him safely through 
the storm of four years duration. It was this that 
has made him blessed in the favor of God, forever. 

Yes, Abraham Lincoln is no more, and we mingle 
our tears with those of the mourning widow and 
bereaved friend. "We feel that in his loss our punish- 
ment is more that we can bear, yet in God is our 
consolation. Let us hope for the best. An all-wise God 
has permitted this great grief to come upon us. Let us 
look to him for deliverance in the time of our distress. 
"We are humbled, we are mortified, we are brought 
very low. Our trust must be in God. Whilst we 
mourn, he whose death we deplore, is enjoying the 
reward of his labor, hapi)y with his God, mingling 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 47 

witli those kin'dred spirits who went before him. Tlie 
two truest aud greatest men that ever lived on eartli, 
John Brown and Abraham Lincohi, have met in glory, 
and they cease not to give praise and honor to him 
that liveth forever and ever. The memory of Abraham 
Lincoln will ever be dear to us. It is engraved upon 
our hearts. It can never be eii'aced. He has been 
our true friend and we never can forget him. We 
feel as though God liad raised him up for a special 
purpose, and that having accomplished the labor 
assigned him, he has gone to his rest. May God pro- 
tect us and keep us from ftirther evils. 

Sermon Preached in the Second Presbyterian 
Church, on Sunday Morning. 

BY KEV. D. S. GREGORY. 

The Lori/ dull Omnipotent rciijneth. — Eevelatiox, six, (5. 

One thought to-day tills every heart. God has sent 
us a subject for our solemn consideration. To-day 
there is a nation mourning. I have seen the strong- 
man pass along these streets of the city weeping like 
a child. The transition from the highest joy to the 
profoundest sorrow has been so .sudden, so instanta- 
neous, that it has left a nation with a Ijrokcn heart and 
closed mouth. It seems almost better to be silent to- 
day in these sanctuaries and let God speak. He has 
never spoken so before to any people. In the capital 
of this nation there lies dead tliis mornina- one who 



48 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

but j-estordaj was the honored and beloved ruler of 
this land. But it is not simply that a president is 
dead. Other and honored presidents of this repul)lic 
have been called from the places of state to the great 
account and no such mourning been witnessed as fills 
the laud to-day. One has fallen now, who more than 
any other, was identified with this grand struggle in 
which we have been engaged tor these four years, — 
one who was strangely designated b^- God to take the 
lead among us, and who had honestly and nobly and 
unselfishly done his work, and quietly found his [ilace 
in the nation's heart. This man has been removed in 
a moment by an assassin's hand, and his chief counsel- 
lor lies unconscious, a victim to the same fiendish 
spirit, wliich hoped in that one hour to reach also the 
life of the leader of our hosts. 

It was a blow aimed at the nation and which sought 
in an hour to destroy the work of these years, and to 
stay the onward march of trutli and justice. Ah, vain 
thought ! There is one upon the throne who rules all 
things and who cannot be reached bv the murderous 
bullet or the assassin's dagger ! " The Lord God Om- 
nipotent rek/neth," and truth and justice shall prevail ! 
What other refuge have we to-day? AVhat other 
consolation in this our national bereavement"? It is a 
dark day, but " the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth." 
Let us dwell uiion the thought, that our faith in God's 
truth, in God's justice, and in God's love may not be 
shaken by this our national calamity. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 49 

1st. Our faith in this Great Euler and His govern- 
ment assures us, that not one word of His truth 
uttered among this people can tall to the ground. 

The great King who is above all presidents, has all 
along the liistory of this nation, been uttering among 
us and througli us to the world with peculiar clear- 
ness. His proclamation of truth and universal freedom. 
Our pilgrim forefathers built upon God's viord of free- 
dom at the first, and our fathers on tliat memorable 
day of 1776 made this same word of freedom the basis 
of their "Declaration," and, again, in later years 
made it the foundation of the national constitution. 
They proclaimed freedom for man in the name of God, 
but they were merely instruments in His hands whose 
word they proclaimed. It was but His repeated pro- 
clamation of His word of emancipation to man. 
Whatever else awaits us we know that He who has 
made these utterances is omnipotent. Yes, there 
is omnipotence in eveiy word of God uttered among 
men. 

The efficiency, the omnipotence, the almlghtiness of 
God's word, are expressions that sound strangely to us 
perhaps, for witli us words are but the breatli shaped 
and made articulate, and then, to all appearance, dying 
away on the air There is nothing wliicli seems at 
first thought more fleeting and powerless than our 
words. And even when we rise above this first 
thought and consider man's words of elofpience, sent, 
with aid of logic and rhetoric, out of the depths of 



50 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

one linmaii soul aroused to the highest pitcli of feel- 
ing and enthusiasm, into another such soul, to rouse 
and kindle it and stir it to its profoundest depths, — 
there is nothing like omnipotence ahout it all. 
There is uotliing in its power hut the working of 
plain, rational, moral and i^sthetic principles. It is 
truth instructing, motive swaying, beauty delighting, 
and emotion exciting. And so far as we see the outward 
workings of God's words, there seems to be nothing 
more in them than in these words of power which man 
utters. "We know that the most eloquent words of 
the orator in legislative halls, or in the forum, or on the 
rostrum, foil to attain in n-iost cases, even with the use 
of all these means, what he who utters them desires. 
To look at the matter outwardly it seems as if these 
words of God tail in the same way and are almost 
equally powerless. But notwithstanding all this 
seeming, God's written revelation brings before us 
the omnipotence of God's word of promise and grace. 
It presents it as differing from all human words in 
this, that it inf:\llibly and unerringly works what God 
sends it to accomplish. Every word of God is the 
expression of a Divine force in man or in the universe. 
Whatever its mission it knows no failure. God is 
with it. 

The prophet Isaiah illustrates this infallible cth- 
ciency of God's word in its relation to the church and 
to man by one of the great jjrocesses of nature. He 
represents the rain and the snow as descending from 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. gj 

heaven, doing their work and returning again to the 
heavens only when it is finished, and God declares 
that His word goes tlms out of His mouth and returns 
only when it has done that for which it was sent. To 
the careless observer the rain and the snow might 
seem to fall upon the earth and to sink into its bosom 
and perish. It is not so. Every drop, every little 
crystal has its circuit by which it returns to the 
heavens as inevitably as the earth returns to its place 
in its orbit at its appointed season. In running its 
round each accomplishes its own work. No atom re- 
turns to its place without having completed that to 
which it was appointed. It returns not to heaven till 
it " has watered the earth, and made it bear and put 
forih, and has given seed to the sower and bread to 
the eater." 

To the human eye the rain-drop and the snow- 
crystal fiill carelessly upon mountain or valley, but 
that is not the end of their work. One drop on the 
mountain sinks into the pores in the granite or lime- 
stone. God meets it as His messenger with the frost, 
and thus breaks off an atom of the rock here and 
there. Another drop falls upon these little atoms 
and gathers them np in its bosom. God meets it as 
His messenger with the might of gravitation and bears 
the water and the lime-rock down the mountain into 
the valley to unite with the drops that have fallen 
there, in enriching and moistening the valley soil. 
There in the lowlands they hold dissolved the rich 



52 LIXCOLK MEMORIAL. 

treasures of the earth which are needed to make seed 
for the sower and hread for the eater. God meets one 
of these drops as His messenger with the forces of 
capillary attraction and vegetable life in the roots of 
the wheat, and the drop with its freight is drawn up 
into the plant and in due time sent out into the grains, 
and when it has deposited all its load, it passes out at 
the pores of the plant and up again into the heavens 
to do a like work when God shall send it forth once 
more as the rain-drop or the snow-crystal. It has at 
last left the wheat ready for the harvest, and returned 
to the place whence it came, but it has finished its 
work first. iS^o atom of it all is lost. We cannot 
trace it all, but it all does its work, and its return to 
its jilace is inevitable, because God's word of omnipo- 
tence has sent it and His hand of omnipotence directed 
it. Just so Ihc ivord of God uttered amo)u/ nun has 
its inevitable circuit, and never fails to do its appointed 
work before it returns to Him whose mouth first spoke 
it. That word shall accomplish its mission just as 
certainly as the rain-drop. The King upon the throne 
of the luiiverse directs all the wisdom and power of 
His government to this end. "While the Lord God 
Omnipotent reigns His word must be a power in the 
world. 

With men there is always a distinction between 
speaking and dohig. The greatest talkers are often 
the most insignificant and worthless workers. The 
man who is full of plans, and who is always proclaim- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 53 

ing them and preparing grand machinery with which 
to execute them, is often in effect the veriest idler, 
doing nothing, or at best doing nothing as it should 
be done. It sometimes seems as if there were very- 
little connection between man's words and his deeds. 
But there is nothing of this with God. With Him 
speaking and doing are one. Whatever He speaks 
He speaks in omnipotence. With Him to promise 
is to perform. The work of creation is the omni- 
potent working of God's word. So of the works of 
providence and redemption. The word of creation 
and the work of creation, the word of providence and 
the work of providence, the word of redemption and 
the work of redemption, are not to be set apart as onr 
human words and works. 

Take an example. This vast creation is hut an em- 
bodimmi of God's ivord. The apostle Peter in the 3d 
chapter of his 2d epistle, teaches that " by the loord of 
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing 
out of the water and in the water." "He spake and 
it was done. He commanded and it stood fast." It 
carries us back in imagination into that limitless past. 
There was a day when the earth had no existence, 
when the sun and the planets had as yet no being. 
There was a day when no comet winged its way with 
lightning speed around yonder sun, because comet 
and sun as yet were not. There was a time — I will 
not call it a (%, for there were no days then — when 
not even one lonely star shot its rays across immeu- 



54 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

siiy. Empty space — mighty intiuitu(Ie of empty 
space ! Had there been a creature to send out a 
greeting into that mighty deep, no echo would have 
come back from that infinite waste, but that one of 
"God! God I God I" God everywliere and God 
alone! 

The momentous liour appointed in the counsels of 
eternity came and God"s word of creation was spolceii. 
It said to the worlds " Be " and they were. From 
non-existence and nothingness came every atom of 
the universe into being, and, as He uttered yet again 
word upon word, beauty and order took their place 
everywhere. The earth and the moon whirled round 
their centre, and with all the planets and comets 
round the sun, their hundreds and thousands of mil- 
lions of miles. And our sun with its train, with the 
myriad suns of our star-system with their trains, cir- 
cled round Alcyone in their orbits of millions of 
millions of miles. And star-mass after star-mass infi- 
nite in number, scattered throughout the universe to 
the immeasurable distances of its remotest bounds, 
commenced around the great centre of all motion 
those movements only to be measured by the endless 
cycles of eternity. It was the simple word of God that 
gave them all being, and sent them on their awful 
way, clothing them with beauty and peopling them 
with living and intelligent things. Look t)ut upon it 
all ! Gird up your imagination for a flight from sun 
to sun, and star to star, and system to system, and 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 55 

star-mass to star-mass, until you are overwhelmed 
with a sense of your nothingness and its infinitude. 
Eememher then that all this is only God's tvord — one 
utterance of His lips ! "He commanded and it stood 
fast." 

Now God's word of freedom proclaimed to man is 
not, as we too often think, so much empty hreath. 
It is the same omnipotent word that woi'ks at one 
time instantaneously, as in creation, aud then again 
slowly and through the ages, as in providence. God 
reigns, an absolute sovereign, aud every one of His 
utterances is the expression of a Divine force in 
His vast realm, and whether working without time 
or with time, works its results inf^xllibly and with 
almighty power. It cannot fail, because it is the word 
of omnipotence and omnipotence cannot fail. The 
gospel proclamation of freedom to man is working 
out His purpose among men just as certainly and just 
as irresistibly as the rain-drop fulfils its mission, or as 
electricity, or gravitation, or any one of these great 
forces of nature, its mission. 

It seems a sad day for us who have been watch- 
ing through these years the progress of God's truth 
among this people. The powers of darkness against 
which His word has been making its way so steadily 
and so grandly for these generations, until the na- 
tion's proclamation had come to be at one with God's 
proclamation, seem to have roused themselves and 
gathered up their energies for one last fiendish ettbrt 



56 Ijy^COLN MEMOETAL. 

to stay that resistless niarcli of tnitli over the nations 
and through the ages. Vain, wholly vain I "Wliat- 
ever betide, God's word has gone forth to the nation, 
and that cannot fail. See what it has already done 
for human freedom. One man has stood forth lieforc 
the world as the representative of these great Divine 
principles. To-day he is gone, and you may sweep 
away all sueli men, and the grand principles will still 
remain the same. 

Through whatever throes tlio nation ma\- pass, 
though the land from east to west, and from north to 
south be again drenched in l)lood, and all our great 
ones be called to sleep with him who has already 
gone to his last sleep, God's word of freedom will 
still be doing its almighty work in its myriad ways, 
and, when these human e\'cs are blinded with tears, 
even when lost to human sight and almost to human 
faith, it will still be working irresistibly as ever to- 
ward the ushering in of the day of His glory. "The 
Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Xot one v/ord of Ilis 
shall fall to the ground. This nation shall be re- 
generated ; man, umde in Gods inuige, shall be freed 
from his bondage and lifted up from his debasement ; 
and we shall be crowned with God's richest blessings. 
The day hastens on apace when we shall proelaiiu to 
the world that the time of freedom and blessing is 
come, and when the voice of all nations shall respond 
with a shout of joy and exultation "Alleluia, The 
Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 57 

2d. Our faith in this Great Ruler and His govern- 
ment assures us, of the triumph of His justice. 

Justice is one of the grandest principles in God's 
government. He is Himself just, always just, and in 
all His ways there is never the slightest departure 
from justice. There is no yielding of justice even to 
love. The one principle which runs through His 
mighty realm of the universe is "An eye for an eye 
and a tooth for a tooth." There is never any de- 
parture from it there. He emhodied this stern idea 
of justice in that Jewish constitution, which in its 
fundamental principles is the model for all time, 
"An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." He has 
not departed one haii-breadth from it even in the 
work of redemption. When Christ was sent forth to 
die for lost sinners, love did not put justice away but 
found in the Incarnate Son a satisfaction to justice, so 
that in Jesus, God is both " merciful and just to forgive 
us our sins," is "just, and yet the j iistifier of the un- 
godly." Everywhere Hisjustice reigns. It may seem 
at times as if there were no just Ruler in tlie world, 
none to uphold eternal justice. Things may seem to 
go all wrong, but it is not so, can not be so while God 
reigns. With the individual the account may not be 
strictly balanced here, for there is for him a re- 
surrection from the dead, a judgment beyond the 
grave, a final and eternal adjustment of the great ac- 
count. Not so with the nation. Its account will be 
settled here. There is no resurrection of the dead 



58 LIXCOLN MEironiAL. 

nation. "When it goes down in the tide of time it is 
gone forever — body and soul. Its name may still 
remain. Historians and orators may speak and poets 
sing its praises, and the mighty wave of influence 
which sums up the power of all its living tlioughts, 
and words, and deeds, shall doubtless roll out into the 
utmost bounds of space and down toward the remo- 
test shores of the ocean of eternity, but the mition, the 
body politic itself, sleeps a sleep that knows no wak- 
ing. The judgment trump will not disturb it. It 
shall summon no ghost of departed empire or state to 
a^jpear before the great judge. Cfesars and Xapo- 
leons will be there, but only as men ; their thrones 
and sceptres shall have perished. Kings and presi- 
dents will be there, but only as men ; their glory and 
their power sliall have tiuled. Tiiey sliall be there 
with the sins of the emperor and king and president 
on their heads, but with nothing but their inanliood 
before God. Xot the highest and mightiest of them 
all, shall bear up with him the lost and dead state 
restored to life. 

This earth itself is the scene of national jwlqment : 
the scene of national reward as well as of national 
retribution. God appears in history judging the 
nations and dispensing strict justice among tliem. 
"Behold He comoth to judge the earth." "He shall 
judge the earth with righteousness." As He exe- 
cuted judgment upon Moab and Amnion and Edom 
and Philistia, cutting oil" man and beast, visiting their 



LINCOLN MEMORTAL. 69 

coasts witli desolation, that they might not be remem- 
bered among the nations, so has He been executing 
judgment upon the nations in all time, blotting one 
by one out of existence as their measure was tilled. 

That day when the trump of God shall sound and 
the archangel's voice rend the heavens and shake the 
earth with his " Come up to judgment," will be a 
day of awful grandeur to one who from afar oii" can 
behold the rolling up of these heavens and the melt- 
ing of this solid globe, and see the whirling dust of 
the myriads of the dead small and great, as it is gath- 
ered from earth and ocean and hurried up — up by 
the arm of Omnipotence, Avhile still fashioning into 
bone and sinew and nerve and ilesh, to where the 
thrones of judgment are set. But had I the imagi- 
nation, I could portray a scene of like, if not ecpial 
grandeur as it passes day by day before that eye of 
Omniscience which takes in all things in one vision, 
on this great theatre of the world in the judgment of 
the nations. There is that same Eternal Judge, that 
same eternal law of righteousness. The trumpet, 
which summons to that judgment, is the gathered 
thunder of the providences which have startled the 
nations in all time, and that judgment is the history 
of this world for all those ages which are but as one 
instant to God. Wrecks of nations, instead of the 
dust of men, are hurried up to that thi'one to be con- 
sumed from before His presence or hurried away into 
oblivion. 



GO LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

lu the light of this thouglit, the events in the career 
of a nation, acquire a new significance as well as a 
new importance. The hand of the Great Euler is 
there dispensing judgment, and we know that noth- 
ing shall go counter to the eternal principles of His 
justice. However dark it may seem, the "Lord God 
omnipotent reigns." A God of justice is on the 
throne. For four years we have been looking on, to 
see the treachery of men in rebellion against a right- 
eous and good government. The wicked have 
seemed at times to prevail, though scoffing at hu- 
manity and scorning the truth and mocking God. 
This splendid heritage here, whose foundations our 
fathers laid in God's own truth, whose fair fields and 
towering bulwarks they watered and cemented with 
their blood, and which gave such grand promise for 
the future to our children and to all this great, lost, 
wailing humanity, whose cry comes up from the bond- 
age of all lands, — this princely heritage we have seen 
desolated, that law which is of God we have seen 
defiled, these altars we have seen desecrated, these 
million watching, aching eyes we have seen filled 
with tears, and these myriad broken hearts with an- 
guish. God has been looking upon the treachery 
of treacherous ones, and the all-just One has seemed 
standing by silently, with His robe of omnipotence put 
off, while the wicked has devoured the man that is 
more righteous than he, and while His people have 
been crying in agony day and night "How long? 
Hath God forgotten 'r " 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 61 

And now again, just as the light seemed breaking 
and Jeliovah taking His place of jnstice once more, 
the land has to day been shrouded in deeper dark- 
ness by this most horrible murder of modern times, 
which has taken from us our beloved and honored 
Chief Magistrate. Again and more bitterly are we 
disposed to cry " How long ? Hath God forgot- 
ten?" He has seemed so slow in the fulfilment of 
His promises and in the execution of His threaten- 
ings. His justice and his omnipotence have seemed 
so to stand aside while the wicked have wrought 
their pleasure in the nation. But the Eternal God of 
justice is on his throne yet, and I hear a voice saying 
"Take courage. Do things seem to j'ou to go all 
wrong 1 Does it seem to you at times that wicked- 
ness prospers and prevails ? Does God seem to hide 
His face when you cry, Avhile the old landmarks are 
removed, and the old and strong foundations are 
broken up ? Is He, the great judge of all the earth, 
slow in visiting transgression ? Take courage. God 
is on the throne. He only seems to you to wait. 
Even this seeming delay is full of the mercy of God." 
" What if some did not believe ? shall that make the 
faith of God of none eifect?" jSTay, rather, every 
threatened judgment of God shall meet with perfect 
and complete fulfilment in due season, in that hour 
which God sees best for us and best for the world and 
best for his own great glory. 

" His purposes will ripen fast, 
Unfolding every hour." 



62 LiyVOLX MEMOIilAL. 

Remember that while here tlie faith and patience 
of the steadfast in this nation are being tried, and 
yonder the wicked are treasnring up wratli against 
the day of wrath, the Lord God omnipotent is above 
all, working out His own mighty purposes of salva- 
tion in His own wise and infinitely grand and sublime 
way, and believe that He in His Justice is "not slack 
as some men count slackness." Oh, in tliat great 
final day it will appear that God was not too slow for 
the rebellious, not too slow for the treacherous and 
the scofl:er, aye, and above all, not too slow for the 
good and the glory of His own beloved 1 Eternal 
justice shall everywliere prevail, for the "Lord God 
Omnipotent reigneth," and works as truly in the 
darkness as in the light. 

3d. Our faith in this great Kulcr and His govern- 
ment assures us, that it shall be well with those 
who have God's truth and justice on their side. 
God's love shall iircvail no less than His justice. 

In the darkness do we know that it will be well 
with us ? Yes, yes ! 

" I cannot always trace the way 
Where thou, Almighty One, dost move : 
But I can always, always say, 
That God is love, that God is love." 
Can it be so to day, as this stricken nation weeps? 
Is it for the hestf Is it in love to those who hold by 
God's truth and justice? It almost seems to us in 
our blindness as if it could not be I We are over- 
whelmed when we think of the awful event ! Taken 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 63 

when we least thought of it aud in so horrible a 
way ! 

Well may the nation mourn ! The man is gone, 
who, acknowledged or unacknowledged, has been the 
great earthly leader in this mighty life and death 
struggle of the nation, Ihe man whom God seemed so 
strangely to designate for the place, — gone just after 
the voice of the people had given their appi'oval to 
his general course in the past by calling him to the 
presidency for a second term, — gone when, by his 
honesty and integrity, lie had won the hearts of the 
men, wlio most ditfered with him, — gone in the hour 
of triumph, when the symlwl of national authority 
had just been restored again to wave forever over the 
chief stronghold of a godless rebellion, and the 
mightiest army of that rebellion had just been 
grouiul to powder by Almighty justice, — gone in the 
hour when the blood aud tears and groans of these 
millions had kuit the nation's heart to his as to none 
befoi'e but the sainted Washington, — goue in the 
hour of his greatest magnanimity', when his mighty 
heart had been opened to receive even traitors back 
to fellowship, — gone just four years from the first 
attack upon the nation's life at Sumter, and on the 
very day that the emblem of authority, justice and 
liberty had been restored again to wave forever over 
that same Sumter, — and gone too by foul conspiracy 
which struck at the heart of the nation by murder 
in cold blood, the verv fitting embodiment of the 



64 LixcoLX .^^E^[onTAL. 

spirit of secessiou, the spirit of murder, — gone by a 
crime such as heaven has not looked upon in these 
modern ages since the cruciiixion I What wonder 
that the nation mourns I Can such u thing be well ? 
Can there be love or mercy in such a thing ? " Xo, 
no, it cannot be" — our hearts would sa\-. But when 
we look at God's ways with us, aud remember that 
God reigns, we must say by faith "Yes, it is well." 
" It is best. God has done it." 

We can look back over these four years now and 
see how God has led us. It has not been in our 
■ways. If we could have made the history, there 
would have been no Bull Run, and therefore, no Don- 
elson and Vicksburg and Chattanooga and Atlanta, 
no peninsular campaign, no Antietam, no Gettys- 
burg, no Wilderness, no Petersburg and Richmond, 
none of this blood and tears and wailing, and no 
human proclamation of freedom to man. But God 
has made it otherwise. If man could have had his 
way we should todaj^, by the reach of this plot, 
which has taken our Chief Magistrate, have been left 
rulerless, leaderless, statesmanless. God reigns, and 
the very day that has taken so much has proved to us 
by saving so much, that, while God's truth prevails 
and God's justice triumphs, it shall all be well with 
us if we hold fast our laith in Him. Let us bow in 
His pi-esence then to-day, and, while we acknowledge 
His right to reign, confess by faith that He does all 
thino-s well. 



LINCOLN MEMOniAL. (55 

But as the nation mourns, let it ask anxiously, 
" Why has God done it?" It would be vain to try to 
shut our eyes to the fact that we are a different 
people to-day from what we were on the morning of 
yesterday. The almost slumbering sense of justice 
has been aroused, and one mighty yearning for 
vengeance has gone up to heaven from a sorely tried, 
long forbearing and much forgiving nation. The 
thought of the Christian heart of this land and its 
stern determination is tliat there shall henceforth be 
no more talk of that weak mercy which would call 
upon our rulers to override all the principles of 
eternal justice to save the lives of men who are a 
million times murderers. I do but read the thoughts 
of men everywhere when I say it. 

But let the nation, while it stands by God's justice, 
beware of passion to-day, and, while this sad event is 
fixing in the depths of the heart, the truth, that by 
the principles of God's word, the forgiveness, by the 
national authorities, of those political leaders whose 
hands are so dyed in blood, would be a crime against 
the present and the future— against the living and 
the dead — against humanity and against God,— let 
every thing like personal enmity and vindictiveness 
be put aM^ay, while we go forward to the right in 
God's name. And if these tears do but nerve the 
nation to mingle a wise justice with a wise lore it shall be 
found at tiie great day of final reckoning that they 
have not been in vain. But oh. above all, whatever 
9 



66 LINCOLN MEMOIilAL. 

befall, let us believe that "the Lord God Omnipotent 
reignetli I" 

Sermon Preached in the Unitarian Church. 

BT KEV. E. BICKIXGHAM. 

The preacher is ineapalde of adequate speech, in 
the midst of the feelings with which the community 
is oppressed. He can do no more on such an occa- 
sion, than make the attempt to interpret our own 
thoughts to us, or rather to interpret to us the 
thoughts with which God is visiting us. Many com- 
mon expressions of truth at once present themselves 
to our miuds, as that "good is to come out of evil," 
that " God's providence is over all," that "our country 
is safe with God," that "we bow with submission 
before him." Such sentiments are almost universal. 
Public proclamations and common conversations, the 
newspapers and the churches speak them ; they are 
in the hearts of the people. 

Yet they do not forbid the heaviness of the heart. 
They cannot prevent our amazement and terror, our 
wondering of mind and wandering of thought, our 
sense of bereavement and affliction. Our sulfering is 
not national only, but personal as well. We shudder 
at the crime, its treachery and its violence ; the 
hatred and malice of it ; tlie contempt for the country 
and of its millions shown in it; the contempt for the 
voices of the wise and of the multitudes. We shud- 



LINCOLN MEMORLiL. Q1 

der at the dreadful impiety of it. The scene and 
circumstance add to the acuteness of the pain with 
whicli we are overwhehned. In the midst of his 
family, in innocent festivities which he had attended 
only from kindly motives, out of regard for tlie wishes 
of his neighbors and fellow-citizens, in a moment, the 
President was taken out of life. No farewell was 
allowed to wife and children ; no farewell to his 
countrymen ; no opportunity was given for a last ex- 
pression of his wishes and his love. It would have 
been awful had he been a hereditary ruler, imposed 
on the people, — if he had been a man of unhappy 
character, from whom the people were alienated 
But he had the confidence of the nation ; probablv no 
ruler in the world ever enjoyed the confidence of his 
people in so great a degree. We trusted in his in- 
tegrity, his calmness, his wisdom, his kindness. 

He was one of us; we all felt that he belonged to 
us. It was not that he was born in a condition of life 
from wliich the great majority derive their origin, or 
that he had tried poverty and labor with the humblest, 
and so might l)e disposed to understand the lot of the 
people, and know how to sympathize with them. It 
was his nature to be one with humanity, and the ele- 
vation of his ofhce, the immensity of his responsibili- 
ties, and the hiboriousness of his cares never at ail 
diminished in his heart the sense of being one with 
the people. Their sorrows and their joys, their dan- 
gers and their security he felt as his own. He was to 



68 LISCOLy MEMORIAL. 

them as a mcinber of their families and as an indi- 
vidual friend. 

Few jjersons in the world, comparatively, have ever 
shown in an equal degree this sense of the common 
humauity. Rol)ert Burns, the poet of the poor, who 
sung their humble griefs, their humble virtues ur hap- 
piness; John Wesley, the preacher of the poor, who 
went to find them and sought them out, and bore the 
gospel of salvation to them, were men of like disposi- 
tion. And when we have called to mind a few such, as 
literature, religion, or statesmanship recount them 
to us, we find no more who can be said to resemble 
oiu* President, till we reach the apostles, in their large 
aud tender hearts, or ask if such sense of human 
sympathy was not the peculiar element in the loveliness 
of Jesus Christ. Where, in history- beside, do we find 
among the great and exalted such simplicity, such 
naturalness, such fullness and tenderness of heart, as in 
the sul)lime speech of ]Mr. Lincoln at Gettysburg ? his 
personal letter to the centenarian voter at Sturbridge ? 
the letters which he wrote from his high position 
to the humble bereaved, whose afHictions were brought 
to his notice ? and in his manners and expressions to the 
womided, sick aud suffering, when he chanced to meet 
them, or walked through the hosi)ital to give bis per- 
sonal thanks and the thanks of the nation to them for 
the patriotism and fidelity which they had exhibited? 
We couple his name with that of Washington. None 
greater than Washington, it is the national belief, has 



LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 69 

appeared in the course of history; and the careful 
thinkers and patriot minds of otlier nations unite with 
us in our estimate. But exalted as was the personal 
character of Washington, we feel that our nation has . 
been immeasurably blessed in the grandeur of two men, 
who stand equally among the greatest and best of the 
world. It is singular how deeply into society, the love 
for Mr. Lincoln penetrates. His name was dear in 
the family circle. Little children knew and loved it. 
A whole race of our fellow-men, under the Providence 
of God, owned him as their Ijcnefactor and father. 
He gave them life. He changed them to men. He 
gave them wives and husbands, parents and children. 
He gave them liberty to say "father" and "mother." 
He consecrated marriage to them, and permitted them 
to speak of home. He gave them prospects and hopes, 
and the enjoyment of blessed liberty. I do not ask, 
whether another in similar circumstances might not 
have done the same, or have done it at an earlier day, 
or in some more striking manner. ]\[r. Lincoln did it 
not as a statesman only, but as a man. He did it with 
his heart. 

I shall not ask what his place was among the histo- 
rical statesmen of the world, nor whether he was a great 
man, beyond his goodness, nor in what intellectual 
abilities or force of character especially' he was great. 
Partly because the age is not ready for the discussion, 
as we must remove to some distance in order to esti- 
mate magnitude; nor is it necessary in our admiration. 



70 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

love and sorrow, to attempt the measure of his power. 
And partly, also, because only the great can compre- 
hend the great. A clown cannot comprehend a 
Xcwton. Pontius Pilate could not comprehend Jesus 
Christ. History, alone, in the course of ages, can find 
authority to give the verdict of greatness. 

Mr. Lincoln had borne his honors modestly and 
simply. He had not used them for his avarice or his 
ambition. He made no personal encniios in the be- 
stowal of office, in the irritation of those to whom 
office was denied, througli their conviction that it was 
bestowed for the furtherance of sinister ends of his 
own. He fell under no suspicion of using his high 
position for selfish ol>jects; his oflice tlirough him in- 
curred no such contempt. lie governed, or rather, 
with singular truth it may be said, he served, not 
according to his own wisdom, but according to the 
wishes of the peo[ile, whose servant he was, as he care- 
fully made himself acquainted with tlieni. We never 
felt that he was imposing on us. He was not using, 
contrarily to our will, the power we had intrusted to 
him. We found in him no special theories or abstrac- 
tions, in pride of which he was pursuing his own way. 
He followed out no cold and heartless logic, to which 
the people must succumb. He indulged in no con- 
ceits. He indulged in no self-M-ill. For such reasons, 
we confided in him and loved liim. 

And in estimating the will of the people, that he might 
guide his action in accordance with it, it is remarkable 



LIN(JOLN MEMORIAL. 71 

how he did not consider alone, as public sentiment, the 
expressions of men in public station, nor influential 
newspapers, nor resolutions of conventions onl}-. He 
saw a public mind, a popular will beyond all these. 
Nor was it alone the momentary expressions of public 
will, that he considered as public sentiment, from 
whatever sources they might be found to originate. He 
seems sometimes to have seen into men's sentiments 
more deeply than they saw themselves. He seems, 
with more than usual depth of insight, to have 
looked into human hearts in order to find therein the 
will of God. In man, he reverenced the voice of God ; 
and, in his knowledge of God, he sought more clearly 
to read the thought of human nature, the general 
conscience, the universal and the final will. 

In our overwhelming sadness, we say, " it is the 
worst news since the war begun." In a sense it is so. 
It appears to our hearts as in many ways the most 
horril.ile. Yet we trust it is not so bad for the nation, 
as great defeats in war would have been. It cannot 
be thought to be so bad, as treason of parties and 
states ; nor so injurious as the foreign sympathy 
which has been so largely given to the cause of the 
rebellion ; nor as the intervention of foreign powers 
and their recognition of the Confederate States would 
have been. The nation lives. The common idea 
that nations depend on individuals, and that their 
places, when vacated, cannot be supplied, history- does 
not sustain. Among the modern discoveries of 



72 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

science, uoue is more remarkable, and perhaps none 
better established tbau this, tliat the course of nations 
has its order and its law, and that God is working- ont, 
through all apparently accidental changes, still, 
his vast designs. The death of Julius Civsar is a 
scarcely noticeable event in the course which the Ro- 
man people and empire were pursuing. It wrought no 
greater freedom to tlie aristocracy or the poi>ulace , it 
excited no farther war; the national jirospcrity was 
not destroyed by it. AVhen Marat died under the 
dagger of Charlotte Corday, the French Kcvolution 
became none the less sanguinary and horrible. 
Charles the first died his violent death, but tyranny 
did not die with him. Louis the sixteenth was also 
pvit to a violent end, but royalty lived in the hearts or 
the genius of the French jjcople, and after a brief 
period again revived. Henry tlie fourtli died \)y the 
hand of an assassin, but the Eoman and the Protest- 
ant faith alike survived. Many more ruk-rs and prime 
ministers have died hj assassination. But nations are 
not subject to the dagger of an assassin, and the life 
of a nation is not concentrated into the life of an 
individual. The vitality of a nation, we have learned, 
is in the hearts of the people ; in their private morals, 
in their schools for p)Opu!ar education, in their 
domestic virtues, in the religion which they believe 
in, in the lilierty they love. The progress of our own 
nation has not been retarded in its essential elements, 
by the conspiracy that aimed originalh- at its life, and 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 73 

the war by which it has striven to maintain its exist- 
ence ; no more can it be, by the individual hand that 
again souglit its destruction by talcing away the life of 
its chosen, its trusted and beloved ruler. 

The lives of great men work more after death than 
during life. "Being dead, he yet speaketh " is true 
of all. The shadows of great men reach far down the 
ages ; or rather, the light with which they shine, and 
the inspiration which their genius and virtues trans- 
mit, are found increasing often as the ages pass. 
The moral character, the elemental ideas of Cajsar, 
Alexander and Napoleon, are a living power in the 
world at the present day. Jesus was more felt at 
Jerusalem, and through tlie world, when the disciples 
and the people could no longer look upon his outward 
form, and fear and malice had succeeded in silencing 
his outward utterance. Whether it bo through ' natu- 
ral ' causes, so understood, or ' supernatural ' means, 
men live in their influence after death with more effi- 
ciency for the world, than during the continuance of 
their mortal life. The great and good are never 
nearer in spiritual power, than when they seem finally 
to have gone away from us. They impress the world 
more deeply by their wisdom ; their counsels are bet- 
ter heeded ; their virtues are more admired and more 
carefully and successfully imitated. The spirit that 
God has once sent into the world, he seems never to 
take away from it. The mortal dies and is seen no 
more; the family and the world are never, in the 
10 



74 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

workings of Divine providence, bereaytd of llie good 

God has once bestowed upon them. It multiplies 

with every year ; succeeding ages only find it greater 

still. 

And while we are now overcome with the most 
poignant grief in the sudden loss which we have sus- 
tained, it seems to be the general conviction, that 
Mr. Lincoln's work on earth was done. The war, 
immense as it was, is finished. The nation is essen- 
tially at peace. If we undertake to review the great- 
ness of the work he has accomplished, we cannot 
measure it. We can only compare it with great 
religious movements, with the Eeformation, or with 
the establishment of Christianity itself. This new 
organization of liberty deserves to be set side by side 
with no less important events in the progress of hu- 
manity. Which is greater, the present, or the first 
American Eevolution, some might hesitate to decide. 
By tiie proclamation of freedom, Mr. Lincoln opened 
one half of our land to the people, to liberal institu- 
tions, to the new civilization, and to the possibilities 
of advancing religion, as well as gave liberty to slaves. 
His work can never be undone. Tiic nation is safe. 
Possibly it is safer than in the continuance of his life. 
He was merciful, and the people treasure up no 
revenge. He was gentle ; he was lenient ; was he 
weak in tenderness ? was he too accessible to personal 
sympathies ? was personal friendship, or tlie power of 
distinguished names too great in iniiuence over him 't 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 75 

Possibly, the interests of the nation may be safer in 
the hands of a less forgiving man. Possibly we need 
the sternness of another mind, which will less readily 
believe in the possibility of conciliating the perjured 
and malignant, a man who will entertain a justerfear 
of the demoniacal spirit which the rebel leaders have 
shown, and Avill decide, and help us to decide, that, 
while we would not hurt a hair of the head of one of 
thorn, we yet can never allow them to live in the same 
land with us, nor, while necessarily remaining, even 
step on to its soil except under military guard. We 
have now seen the spirit of the slaveholder in this last 
outbreak of malignity and wickedness ; it is well for 
us to know the intinitcly broad distinction between 
liberty and slavery, and provide for an eternal separa- 
tion between them. 

Had I chosen a text, as the introduction of my dis- 
course, I should have reminded you \\ow', like Moses, 
our president has seen the promised land, and over- 
looked it far and wide, the inheritance of the people, 
and has not himself been permitted to enter into en- 
joyment of it. I shonld liave told you how, like the 
aged Simeon, he might say. Lord, now lettest thou 
th}- servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen 
thy salvation" — or how, also, like the dying Stephen, 
he would have said, "Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge." But texts of written record are unnecessary: 
Providence speaks directly to our heai-ts. 
And let us not suffer this season of our deep and 



76 LiycOLX MEMORIAL. 

agonized feeling to pass without impressing upon our 
hearts its appropriate lessons, and taking to ourselves 
most earnest resolutions. The great necessity is, that 
we should consecrate ourselves with more thorough- 
ness to humitnity. The grief of the lionr is wide- 
extended ; millions feel it. We feel more deeply than 
ever, how much our own personal interests are compli- 
cated with those of all the world beside. In the face 
of every man we see a brother. The tears which 
others shed, are for our loss as well as theirs. And 
the affliction which has now come upon us all alike, 
inspires us to feel more truly the private sorrows of 
those, wlio, in the events of tlie war, have consecrated 
to their country in death the beloved members of their 
own households. It teaches us more clearly the 
liability of man to suft'er ; and calls us to survey with 
more lively sympathy the sorrows of the race. And 
long as the dispensation of sorrow shall be an ordi- 
nance of God's wise and merciful government, so long 
must our hearts take to themselves the lesson of sym- 
pathy with man. 

Especially, in this connection, must we impress our 
hearts with a sense of justice to the colored race. For 
their sakes, on account of the position which we, as 
a nation, have assumed and held in regard to them, 
we have passed through the terrors of our long-con- 
tinued war, as we passed for the same reason through 
long-continued anxieties and miseries that jii'eceded 
it. We have suftered, terribly suffered, for the course 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. f-j 

which we have pursued. Do we now intend justice ? 
Do we longer think to save and advance our national 
welfare by desijising and oppressing, or by neglecting 
the colored race ? Have we still no faith in justice ? 
shall we still think, by some indirections, to save our- 
selves, while we hide from the commandments of 
God ? Have not the judgments of the Almighty been 
severe, and plain ? Let us do our duties ; let us with 
all our hearts and with all faithfulness give liberty and 
equality to the oppressed, and not tempt judgments 
more bitter, more dreadful than those which we sus- 
tain. 

Let us purity our politics. We cannot but call to 
mind, in the hour of national anguish, how much of 
baseness and inifpiity have characterised the intrigues 
of politicians; on what worldliness, what earthly ex- 
pediency, what distrust and denial of everlasting prin- 
ciples of right great parties have based themselves, in 
their attempts to attain the government of the nation. 
We do no good with base men. We have no need of 
them. They mean no good to us. We follow them 
but to destruction. We coi-rupt the vital sources of 
morality in our own hearts, and the sources of national 
life, while we yield to their influence and follow the 
guidance of their principles. 

Lastly. Now, in the hour, when wickedness has 
wrought so signal a triumph, has laid the hope of the 
nation low, and filled the eyes and hearts of all with 
tears and anguish, — let us consider the final truth,— 



78 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

that all sill is of the same character. "Whatsoever its 
manifestations, howsoever dreadful its vioieiiee or 
light its appearance, in elementary principle it is all 
the same. To justify a degree of it in our own hearts, 
is to justify the worst degree of it in another's. To 
demand impunity for any sin of our own, whatsoever 
the apparent reason for indulgence of it, is to give 
leave for others to riot in demoniacal wickedness. 
We see in this last enormity of maliciousness, 
which has laid low a great beloved man, the horrible 
character, not alone of one man's wickedness, but of 
sin itself. In every good man's life, in the life and 
temper of Jesus Christ, we see the beauty and loveli- 
ness of that principle which is the opposite of sin. 
Which do we choose? Whose side, in the universe, do 
we assume 't Now, while our hearts are teiidei'ly 
affected, deeply impressed, let us renew our vows of 
consecration to the spirit of holiness and good ; let ns 
choose the right, the absolute, eternal right ; let us 
labor with the good and God, for its progress and pre- 
valence over all the world.* 

Other Services. 
Extemporaneous addresses or remarks having 
reference to the sad event, were made from almost 
every other pulpit in the city. Full reports of these 
have not been preserved, Init an abstract of some of 
them follows. 

*Tliis sermon was preached Ironi a lirief. ami has been wrilteii 
out since il was dehvered. 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 79 

At the First Baptist Chnrcli, the pastor, the Rev. 
Dr. George C. Baldwin read the eightj-niuth psalm, 
and selected for his text the first fifteen verses of the 
psalm, in one of which occurs the words, "The north 
and the south thou hast created them." He spoke of 
the present affliction as viewed by the light of holy 
writ and especially of the psalm he had read, wherein 
the Almighty is praised as the keeper of His cove- 
nants with His people, and lauded for the manifesta- 
tions of His wonderful power. He pictured the 
eiiects of rebellion and slavery, paid a faithful tribute 
to the memory of the late President, and exhorted 
all, especially the young, to imitate his example in 
their character and life. Here, as in other churches, 
the scene was impressive, and sobs of emotion were 
often audible among the congregation. 

The pastor of the Xorth Baptist Church, tlie Rev. 
Dr. C. P. Sheldon, read for the morning lesson, a por- 
tion of the third - chapter of the second book of 
Samuel, in which the death of Abner is narrated, and 
in which David laments the loss of his friend in these 
words, "Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put 
into fetters : as a man falleth before wicked men, so 
fellest thou." The speaker referred to some of the 
proofs of the barbarism of slavery, noting especially 
the assault on Sumner, the firing on the troops of 
Massachusetts in Baltimoi-e, and finally the tragedy 
just enacted. He expressed his thankfulness for the 
constitutional provision determining at once his sue- 



80 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

eessor in case of a President's death, and declared liis 
joy tliat the nation still lives. The sermon of the 
evening related to the successful progress of the war 
and the recent victories of tlie union armies, and in 
these favors the preacher bade his people recognize 
the work wrought by the hand of God for this nation. 

Respecting the service at Christ Glinrch, the rector, 
the Rev. J. N. Mulford, in a note says : 

"As we met on last Easter Sundaj' for morning 
prayer, our hearts were sad with the nation's great 
afHictiou. 

" Around that day associations of former years cast 
a feeling of holy joy, and the recollection of the 
great fact in Christian history which we were called 
to celebrate would have made it a day of gladness. 
But every heart was sick and suffering with a wound 
yet fresh and bleeding. Our great and good Presi- 
dent lay dead — slain by the hand of an assassin. 
Though sad, we did not forget that light from the 
tomb of Christ shed cheerful rays even into the dark- 
ness caused by this event : for there is no page of 
human sorrow that is uot brightened by the power of 
His resurrection. Therefore, we joined heartily in 
the services of the day, and sang our Easter chants 
with thankfal, though subdued and chastened feeling. 

"In the extempore address, I remember having re- 
marked that this terrible shock which caused our 
nation to pause in the midst of its triumphal march, 
would do ffood if it drew us out of our self conlidence 



LINCOLN MEMOmAL. yj 

to put our trust more in God ; that we were thinking 
too much of our own strength and wisdom in the toil 
and success of war ; that while we could not see the 
meaning of this dark providence we were compelled 
to stand still and have taith in God ; that two things 
were as clear as ever, viz : — God was still the ruler 
of nations — And our faith in Him should he as strong 
as when we were in tlie flush of prosperity; that 
while standing now in the dawn of peace by the body 
of our fiillen leader, we appreciated as not even in the 
perplexities of war, tlie splendour of that calm judg- 
ment and determined will, that, under God, led us 
safely through the manifold dangers of the great 
i-ebellion ; and that to-day, in the sudden and terrible 
death of President Lincoln, the people were crushed 
with a sense of sorrow and helplessness, as if the angel 
that cursed Egypt had slain the first liorn of every 
family in this land." 

The Easter sermon of the Rev. Dr. J. I. Tucker, at 
the Church of the Holy Cross, was interspersed with 
allusions to the calamity the nation had sustained. He 
enforced the duty of a stronger exercise of religious 
principle, to enable all men and especially Christian 
men, to rise above the gloom of the occasion. 

At the State Street Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Rev. Dr. E. Wentworth stated, that he had felt im- 
pelled, under an overwhelming sense of the awfiilucss 
of the occasion, to lay aside his previously prepared 
discourse, and devote his thoughts to the one great 
11 



82 LINCOLN MHMOIUAL. 

idea that absorbed the attention of the people — the 
sudden and tragical death of their Chief Magistrate. 
He selected as his text the eighth verse of the seventh 
chapter of Micah : — '■^ Bejoice nol aguimt mc, mine 
enemy : lohen I fall, I shall arise; vhen I sit in ilarkness, 
the Lord shall he a light unto me." 

He commented upon the facts that it was natural to 
rejoice in the calamities of an enemy and tliat foreign 
nations had rejoiced iu our calamities, and expressed 
the belief that men would be found who would even 
rejoice iu this last calamity that carries us l)ack to the 
crimes of the dark ages. He noticed our successive 
falls as a nation, and our subsequent recovei-ies. 
"Truth and righteousness," said the speaker, "are 
often crushed, but they rise again. Abraham Lincoln 
falls, but in falling is exalted to the honors of mar- 
tyrdom. No name in American history, not even 
AVashington's, Avill occupy a more conspicuous place 
tlian that of Abraham Lincoln. His work is done. 
Others will finish what he had so nobly commenced 
and brought so nearly to a glorious termination. 
"We sit iu darkness to day, but God is our light. He 
teaches us in this event, that he will not allow us to 
trust iu an arm of flesh." The speaker in concluding, 
recited the forty-sixth psalm, beginning " God is our 
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." In 
the evening he delivered the same sermon in the 
jSTorth Second Street Methodist Episcopal Churcii. 
The Rev. R. R. Meredith, pastor of the jSTorth Troy 



LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 33 

Methodist Episcopal Church, preached to a crowded 
audience in the evening, selecting as the basis of his 
sermon the fit\y-third verse of the twenty-second chap- 
ter of St. Luke's gospel : " But this is your hour, and 
the power of darkness." He set before his auditors 
their duty in this crisis of the nation, and drew infer- 
ences from the occurences of the time both appropriate 
and impressive. 

The Rev. Marvin R. Vincent, at the First Presbyte- 
rian Church, introduced in a previously prepared 
sermon on the "Perversion of human judgment," 
some appropriate allusions to the mournful occasion, 
citing the foul murder of the President as the crown- 
ing illustration of his theme. Looking beyond the 
mere tool who fired the weapon, to the spirit that 
prompted the deed, he attributed the deed entirely 
to slavery. 

At the Park Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Alex- 
ander Dickson preached in the morning from the 
twelfth verse of the fourteenth chapter of the gospel 
of St. Matthew, "And his disciples came, and took np the 
body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus." In the 
evening, his discourse was based on these words, "For 
he doth not afflict ■willingly nor grieve the children of men.;' 
recorded in the thirty-third verse of the third chapter 
of Lamentations. 

In the Roman Catholic churches of the city, the im- 
pression produced by the addresses of the respective 
clergymen, served to temper the jubilant character of 
the Easter exercises. 



84 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

At St. Mary's Cliiux'li a very large congregation 
assembled at higli mass. After the singing of the 
gospel, the pastor, the Rev. Peter Havermans, ascended 
the pulpit, and addressed the audience at considerable 
length and with much earnestness, respecting the 
public calamity that had befallen the country. He 
stated that he could not imagine any event that wa.s 
more to be regretted at this time, than the death of 
President Lincoln, and that he looked upon his assas- 
sination, as one of the greatest crimes that could be 
committed ; that he had no words at his command ade- 
puately to give expi-ession to his feelings. " Every one " 
said the speaker, "is horror-stricken at the tragic deed 
which has taken place at the capital of the nation. 
The wickedness of the act is heightened by every 
aggravating circumstance that can surround crime. 
The murder was committed on Good Friday, at a 
public entertainment, given partly as a compliment to 
the unsuspecting victim, at the moment that the re- 
bellion had been crushed, and at a time when the 
magnanimity and goodness of the President had 
begun to be seen and was foreshadowing, as far as 
the public interest would permit, a lenient disposition 
toward his rebellious brethren of the south. 

"The President's popularit}- had become so great 
during the critical time in which he had so wisely and 
humanely carried on the war, that he had been almost 
unanimously reelected, and had now succeeded in 
bringing the war to a close, in a way that challenged 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 85 

the admiration of the world, and promised to this 
country a future and a destiny exalted and enduring. 
He had consequently gained the confidence of all 
parties. His political enemies had become his fi-iends 
and admirers, and the powers of Europe that had 
been jealous of us and liad indirectly, at least, given 
' aid and comfort' to the south, had found, contrary to 
their expectations, that the American people were 
able to manage their own affairs, settle their own 
troubles, and maintain their own government. 

"At this moment it is, that a foul plot is formed by 
cowardly assassins, to blight, if it were possible, the 
fair hopes of the people, cripple and ujDset the govern- 
ment, and destroy the very life and existence of the 
nation, by murdering the President, Vice President 
and Secretary of state. 

"The conspirators hoped, at the very least, to clog 
the wheels of government and thus produce anarchy 
and confusion, and to take revenge for the failure of 
the rebellion not only b}- the destruction of the heads 
of the several departments of state to whom the busi- 
ness of the nation is confided, but by inciting internal 
commotions throughout the entire community. This 
fiendish plot has succeeded only in part, and the fear- 
ful result is the monstrous crime which has astounded 
us. If then it was ever necessary, it is now, that we 
should send up our supplications to heaven, and pray 
for the dear country in which our lot is cast." 

In the course of his address, the speaker alluded to 



86 LIXCOLX ME.VOHTAL. 

the sicrnificant facts that the union armv entered 
Riehmoud on Palm Sunday, and that tlie President 
was assassinated on Good Friday, and concluded by 
announcing a service in the church, at the hour of 
the President's funeral, on the Wednesday following. 

The Rev. James Keveny, the pastor of St. Peter's 
Church, during the services of the day, spoke with 
deep feeling concerning the sad event, and denounced 
the perpetrators and abettors of the liori'id crime in 
language both stern and affecting. 

At St. Joseph's Church, the pastor, the Rev. Aug. 
J. Tliebaud, said in substance, that not only had a 
great crime been committed but an awful calamity 
also, had befallen the country, in the cruel and cold- 
blooded murder of the Chief Magistrate of the 
American nation. Until the sad news of the Presi- 
dent's death was announced, the hearts of all had 
been filled with joyous expectations of returning 
peace, but by the intelligence of the lamentable event, 
the people's fondest hopes were blasted, and God 
alone could foresee the consequences of the foul deed 
which depri\ed the country of its worthy head. He 
earnestly exhorted the people to pray God to avert 
from the nation the misfortunes that appeared to 
threaten it, and to turn everything to its safety and to 
the people's welfare. 

In the discourse of the Rev. James M. I'ullman, 
pastor of the Universalist Church, the speaker paid 
a touching tribute to the character of the late Presi- 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 87 

dent, and educed such solemn lessons from his cruel 
death, as were consonant with the occasion. 

Many of the churches were draped with emblems 
of mourning. In some, these manifestations of 
grief were confined to the pulpit, but in others, sable 
trappings and appropriate mourning devices appeai-ed 
at all prominent points. The booming of cannon 
from the hill east of the city at half-hour intervals, 
suggested a striking yet mournful contrast to the 
solemn stillness that pervaded the streets. The black 
drapery, waving on the fronts of public buildings and 
shops and dwellings, together with the partially 
clouded sky, added to the gloom of the day. 



MONDAY, APRIL 17TH, 1865. 

As soon as the time for the obsequies of the late 
President, at Washington, had been determined, 
Andrew Johnson, the President of the United States, 
dii'ected the publication of the following 

Announcement. 

To the People of the United titates : 

The undersigned is directed to announce, that the 
funei'al ceremonies of the lamented Chief Magistrate 
will take place at the Executive Mansion, in this city, 
at twelve o'clock, noon, on Wednesday, the nine- 
teenth instant. 



88 LmCOLN MEMORIAL. 

The various religious denomioatioiis throughout 
the country are invited to meet in tht-ir respective 
places of worship at that hour, for the purpose of sol- 
emnizing the occasion with appropriate ceremonies. 
(Signed) 

VV . HUMER, 

Acting Secretary of State. 
Dej>artmcnt of State, Wnshim/ton, April \ltli, 1805. 



TUE A.SSASSINATIO\ OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 

BY A. G. .JOHNSOX. 

A great calamity has Itefallen the nation. The 
death of Mr. Lincoln will drape the land in mourning, 
will fill all the people with profound sorrow, and cause 
everywhere fearful forebodings for the future. Mr. 
Lincoln had taken strong hold of the affections of the 
people. iSTo man since Washington, had inspired 
them with such a feeling of attachment and confi- 
dence. It was not the feeling of awe and veneration 
with which Washington was regarded. It was not 
the fierce and passionate admiration that .Jackson 
inspired. It was love and respect rather than awe 
and admiration. He had none of the shining qualities 
of a popular leader. He was neither handsome in 
person, nor graceful in manners, nor brilliant in con- 
versation, nor eloquent in speech. But his temper 
was amiable, his manners were genial and gracious, 
his talk was pleasant and sensible, and his speeches 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 89 

were unequalled for clearness of statement and logical 
argument. He was slow in forming opinions, and 
arriving at conclusions, but sound in judgment, and 
lirm in execution. He was a safe counsellor, a sure 
guide, a trusty and prudent ruler. What labors he 
has had to perform ! What difficulties to meet and 
overcome ! AVhat cares and perplexities have sur- 
rounded him on every side! And how bravely, 
cheerfully and hopefully he has borne himself through 
all his labors and trials ! 

His election was made the pretence and occasion of 
a rebellion threatening to destroy the life of the na- 
tion. He has struggled to quell that rebellion and 
save his country, and in the hour of his triumph and 
the nation's salvation, he is stricken by the pistol shot 
of an assassin. It is sad to reflect that the blow 
should have been struck, and the time should have 
been chosen for it, when the peculiar qualities of 
character for which he was distinguished, were most 
needed. The people of the north would have heeded 
his advice, and followed his counsels. The people of 
the south would have been won by his justice and 
mercy. Of all men in public life, he was the least 
under the influence of bad passions. He would not 
be moved by fear, love, hate or revenge, to swerve 
from the path of duty. In this time of transition 
from war to peace, from slavery to freedom, from 
rebellion to submission, the country- had everything to 
hope from his moderation, his wisdom, his mild and 



90 LIXCOLX MKMOliTAL. 

merciful disposition, his conciliatory spirit, his for- 
bearing temper, his readiness to forgive. It did seem 
as if the country needed just such a man, with gentle- 
ness so mingled with firmness, with shrewdness so 
blended with simplicity, with justice so tempered by 
mercy, and with a goodness of heart, never ruffled by 
opposition, never soured by disappointment, and 
never embittered by hate. He was ever ready to love 
those that hated him, and to do good to those that 
despitefully entreated him. 

The good man is dead, but the country he has 
saved will be the monument of his tame. The people 
will embalm his memory in their hearts. The Presi- 
dent is dead, but the nation lives. — Trwj Dalli/ WIc'g. 



The National Bereavemekt. 

BY W. E. KISSELBIRGH. 

The horror with which the intelligence of the assas- 
sination of the President was received, and the 
anguish caused by his death throughout the North, 
are in no wise abated by the few hours which have 
elapsed since the unwelcome tidings brought their 
grief to every household. But time enables us more 
calmly to review the situation, and the effect upon the 
nation's destiny. Greatly as we mouri] our late 
beloved President, ripe as he was in the experience 
of the past, and successfully as he has conduct d the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. %\ 

nation through four years of dark and desperate 
peril, — aud the last man in the laud, as it would 
appear, we could aflbrd to loose, — we hegin to feel 
that God's good Providence has directed the blow, 
and that he who doeth all things well, had some great 
and l)eueficial purpose to subserve in the agonizing be- 
reavement which has fallen upon His people. None 
of us now doubt that Abraham Lincoln was God's 
chosen instrument to lead the nation through the 
tribulation of the past. So should we feel that having 
fulfilled the mission he was sent to perform — livino- 
long enough to see the bow of hope span the national 
horizon, and long enough to disarm malice and hate 
and env3^ in the minds and breasts of all — he has 
been called away to an infinitely better reward and a 
higher sphere of glory. The maligned, the ridiculed, 

the insulted man — hated as no man ever was hated 

died beloved as no man since Washington ever was 
loved. 

We must take courage from the light of the past. 
The hand that struck us down will raise us up again. 
We must gather nearer to the altar of our country 
than ever before, aud more firmly basing the principles 
of our government upon the everlasting truths of 
Justice and Liberty, make it what Abraham Lincoln 
sought to make it, the purest, freest, best on earth. 
As he fell a martyr to libertj-, we must — not in a 
spirit of blood-thirstiness or revenge — demand an 
atonement at the hands of those men who struck him 



92 LTXcoLy ME.vonr.iL. 

down ami who have laboi'ed to strike dovm the gov- 
ernment of the country. We must not forget that 
treason has done this work, and in dealing with it, no 
false considerations for the wounded honor, the 
fictitious pride of the leaders of the rebellion, must 
deter us from following the principles of everlasting 
justice. — Ti'oy Daily Times. 



The Death of President Lixcoln. 

BY MRS. E. TAN SANTVOOKD. 

A Nation's mighty heart 

Throbs with a voiceless woe; 
The skies in pity weep, 

The winds are sobbing low. 
The gentle stars have veiled their light, 
And deep'ning gloom enshrouds the night 

The patriot heart is stilled — 

Stilled by a murderer's hand! 
Strong men. are bowed in grief, 
And mourning fills the land. 
And countless eyes are dimmed with tears. 
Sad hearts oppressed with anxious fears. 

A few brief days agone 

Bells rang with merry peal ; 
And brightening omens told 
Our country's future weal; 
Flags floated on the sun-lit air. 
The night was o'er of our despair. 



LINCOLN MEMORLAL. 93 

How changed the joyous scene ! 

Now draped in midnight gloom 
The stars and stripes he loved : — 
Oh, plant them o'er his tomb ; 
Thus may the sacred emblem keep 
Sweet vigil o'er his peaceful sleep. 

That warm and kindly heart, 
It knew no bitter thought; 
With hopeful faith and love, 
Its deeds of mercy wrought; 
It ne'er betrayed our fervent trust. 
Our Country guards the hallowed dust ! 

Troy Daily Times. 
April 15, 1865. 



Common Council Proceedings. 

Special Meeting. 

Blonday Evening, April 17, 1865. 

Members Present— Hon. Uri Gilbert, Mayor; Hon. 
John Moran, Recorder, and Aldermen Cox, Fales, 
Fitzgerald, Fleming, Hay, Hislop, Harritt, Kemp, 
McManus, Murphy, Morris, JSTorton, Prentice, 
Smart, Stanton, Starbuck, Sears, Stannard. 

On motion of Alderman Kemp, the customary rou- 
tine of business was dispensed with. His Honor the 
Mayor stated the object of the meeting as follows : 

" The sudden and awful death of the President of 
the United States, by the hand of a midnight assassin, 
has cast a gloom over the nation, clothed every house 



94 I.IXVOLX MEMORIAL. 

in niouniiiig, ;uul filled the hearts of the people with 
grief whicli words cannot adequately describe. That 
we ma}' in our corporate capacity, and in behalf of the 
citizens of Troy, give such public expression to the 
deep feeling of sadness called forth l)y this mourntul 
event, which has come upon us at a time when all hearts 
were rejoicing at the success of our arms, and the 
prospect of a speedy peace to the nation, we have as- 
sembled here this evening to take such action as be- 
comes a bereaved people under such a sad calamity. 
Gentlemen, the matter is in your hands, and I am 
confident whatever you propose will be worthy the 
cit}' and befitting the occasion.'" 

Alderman Kemp offered the following resolutions: 
At a time wheti the heavy hand of national sorrow 
has been laid upon us like a weary burthen, and the 
mourning that is in our streets reflects the gloom visi- 
ble in every countenance, the Common Council of the 
city of Troy deem it meet and proper to give a public 
expression and an enduring record of the grief so uni- 
versally felt by the community. Leaving it to the 
historian to record the tragic events ; to men of sacred 
calling to draw lessons of wisdom ; to the stricken 
family to bow down, and the entire people to mourn, 
we desire to join in the general wail that is rising li-om 
every city and hamlet in the land ; therefore, 

Besolvcd, That while we would not be unmoved at 
the murder of a citizen, however humble, we doubly 
shudder at the assassination of the head of the nation; 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 95 

and the cruel death of Abraham Lincohi, President of 
the United States, will be remembered, through all 
recorded time, as one of the most fearful events in the 
world's annals. 

Resolved, That whatever diiierences of sentiment 
may have been entertained between a portion of the 
people of the United States and the lamented dead, 
they are all buried at the grave ; and in the great de- 
parted we see a man of spotless purity of character, of 
unchallenged honesty of purpose, of signal originality 
of mind, a man moulded, as it appeared, to play the 
mighty part that he performed so grandly, a man who 
carried the nation through the four years' fiery storm 
of war, and fell when the haven of peace was in sight. 
Resolved, That such a calamity as this proves more 
fully the strength of our institutions, and illustrates 
the wisdom of the form of government adopted by our 
fathers — institutions that survive the culmination of 
any conspiracy, however foul and successful — a gov- 
ernment binding the hearts of the people in links that 
are the more firmly riveted by every attempt to burst 
them asunder. To a nation thus sustained by its own 
innate strength, renewed allegiance is due after a 
calamity such as this. 

Resolved, That the citizens of Troy be requested to 
participate in such exercises as may be appointed for 
"Wednesday next, when the funeral of the late Presi- 
dent is to take place, by closing their places of busi- 
ness, attending at the regular houses of worship, and 
in such other manner as shall seem most appropriate 
to prove the general grief. And that a committee of 
five, of which his Honor the Mayor shall be cliairman, 
be appointed to arrange such public exercises as they 



96 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

shall deem best, and to suggest such other solemnities 
as shall cause the day to be fittingly observed in Troy. 

The resolutions were adopted, and the Mayor ap- 
pointed as the remainder of the committee. Recorder 
Moran and Aldermen Kemp, Starbuck and Norton. 

On motion of Alderman Norton, Major-General 
John E. Wool was invited to address the Board, and 
did so in words suited to the solemn occasion. 

Then, on motion, the Board adjourned. 

Jajiks S. Thorn, Clerk. 

Gen. Wool's remarks were as follows : 
" The intelligence of the death of the honored Pre- 
sident of the United States is so uuexpected, and the 
manner of that death so astounding and atrocious, as 
almost to paralyze thought and speech. Men meet 
on the streets with downcast look and saddened face 
and pass without a word. The emblems of mourning 
that are exhibited everywhere throughout the city, 
the flag of our country furled and draped in black, 
the suspension of business — these bespeak more em- 
phatically the feelings of the people than words. 

"The virtues and excellencies, the patriotism and 
conscientiousness, the honesty and ability of Abra- 
ham Lincoln are known to you all, and will be 
remembered so long as this nation shall last or man 
shall recognize the higher qualities of his race. Mr. 
Lincoln's most fitting eulogy finds expression in the 
great love of the people of this nation. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 97 

"It is proper that honor should he done to his me- 
mory in this as well as in every city of the land, and 
not only in tliem, but in every town and village and 
hamlet of the Union. The acting secretary of state 
has invited the various religious denominations 
tlirougliout the country, to meet within their respect- 
ive places of worship at the time of the obsequies of 
the Pi'esident at Washington, for the purpose of so- 
lemnizing the occasion with appropriate ceremonies, 
lu response to this announcement, I notice that the 
Governor of Illinois, in the spirit of your proceedings 
this evening, has called upon the people of that state, 
the home of her martyred son, to respect the invitation 
sent out from "Washington. An observance of the 
day of the funeral such as is thus suggested meets my 
hearty approval. Let there be no military display or 
out door pageant, but let the total suspension of busi- 
ness and the solemn services of the church, be our 
expression of sorrow and mourning on the sad 
occasion." 

After the adjournment of the Board, the committee 
drew up the following request which was sent in the 
form of a note, to the pastors of all the churches in 
the city. 

Request ok the Committee. 

Pursuant to resolution adopted at a special meeting 
of the Common Council of the city of Troy, the 
13 



98 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

undersigned, a committee appointed for that piirpoi^c, 
respectfully request tliat the clergymen of the city 
cooperate in their respective churches and places of 
worship on Wednesday next, the 19th inst., at 12 
o'clock, noon, in the observance of such religious 
services as may be suitable to solemnize and com- 
memorate the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, hate 
President of the United States. 
Dated Troy, April 17th, I860. 

Uri Gilbert, 

John Moran, 

William Kemp, - Committee. 

Thomas Xorton, 

Geo. H. Starbuck. 



Resolutions of Respect. 

At a meeting of the .Jewish citizens of this city, 
held at their Hall, April 17th, 1865, the following 
preamble and resolutions were passed : 

Whereas, His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, the 
President of the United States, died on the morning 
of the 15th of April, from wounds received at the 
hands of an assassin ; therefore, 

Resolved, That in the death of our I)elo\-ed Presi- 
dent, our whole country has lost its best and dearest 
friend ; that his life is the brightest page of our 
nation's sorrows ; that we prayerfully ask Him who 
ruleth all the people of the earth in His providence, 
to work out His purpose in this appalling calamity 
that has gone so near to the hearts of the American 



LINCOLN MEMOHIAL. 99 

people, and to decree and hasten tliat end which our 
hunented President so nearly consummated, and to 
which he died a martyr, namel}', religious liberty, and 
the restoration and perpetuation of the American 
union. 

It was further resolved, that the Aushe Chesed 
congregation of this city, in "Wotkyns's block, be open 
for religious service on Wednesday, April 19th, 1865, 
from 10 A. M. till 12 o'clock M. 

A. KsiNSKY, President. 

B. LiCHTENSTEiNE, Secrctarv. 



TUESDAY, APRIL 18TII, 1865. 
Announckjiext by the Mayor. 

To the Citizens of Troy: 

In accordance with tlie resolutions adopted by the 
common council of the city of Troy, requesting an 
observance of the day appointed for the funeral of the 
late President of the United States, it is especially 
urged that a solemn and suitable commemoration of the 
occasion be had in Troy; that the bells be tolled from 
half past eleven o'clock A. j\I., until twelve M.; that 
services be held in all the city churches for one hour, 
commencing at noon ; and that all business be sus- 
pended for the remainder of the day. It is also 
suggested that the flags be placed at half-mast, and 
emblems of mourning be affixed to public and private 
buildings. Uri Gilbert, Mayor. 

Tmj, Ajrril IMt, 1865. 



100 ^ LmCOLN MEMOniAL. 



Orders to the Tenth Brigade and the Forty 
Fourth Regiment. 

Head Qrs.. 10th Brio., 3d Div., N. Y. N. G., I 
Tmj, April 18th, 1865. j 
General Okder No. •'). 
The uuilorsignecl has this day received official iii- 
formatiou from the war department, and also from 
Maj. Gen. John Tayler Cooper, commanding Third 
division, IS". Y. N. G., announcing the deatli of the 
illustrious Abraham Lincoln, late President of the 
United States, that he died at twenty-two minutes 
after seven o'clock on the morning of Saturday, the 
loth day of April, 1865, of a mortal wound iniJicted 
upon him by an assassin. With profound sorrow we 
mourn his death as a national calamity: and as a mark 
of respect to the Chief Magistrate of the nation, and 
Commander-in-Chief of its armies, I do hereby order 
and direct the commanding officer of the several regi- 
ments comprising the Tenth brigade N. Y. JST. G., the 
day following the reception of this order, to cause the 
regimental color to be displayed at half-staff", and also 
on the day of the funeral, ou their respective arsenals 
and armories, and that said arsenals and armories will 
be appropriately draped in mourning for thirty days. 
And I do further order that all regiments provided 
with artillery and ammunition cause a gun to be fired 
every half hour between sunrise and sunset. And I 
do further order aud direct that all officers of the Tenth 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 101 

brigade while on duty, will wear the badge of mourn- 
ing on their left arm and swords, and on the colors 
and ai-ras of the commands and regiments, for the 

pei'iod of six months. 

Darius Allen, 

Brig. Gen., Comd'g Tenth Brig., N. G. 

Asa W. Wickes, Aid de Camp. 

Head Qrs., 24th Eegt., N. Y. S. N. Gt., ] 
Ti-oi/, N. Y., April 18th, 1865. J 

General Okder No. 10. 

Brigade order jS"o. 5, dated Headquarters 10th Brig- 
ade, 3d Division, N. Y. N. G., Troy, April 18, 1865, is 
hereby promulgated. The commandants of the several 
armoi'ies of this command will cause their armories 
to be draped in mourning, in compliance with brigade 
orders, and the colors to be displayed at half-staff to 
morrow, the 19th day of April. 

Capt. Landon, commanding A company, will to- 
morrow, April 19th, tliat being the day appointed for 
the funeral solemnities of the late President of the 
United States, cause half hourly guns to be fired, 
beginning at sunrise and ending at sunset. By order. 
I. McCoNiHE Jr., Col. Com. 

G. G. Moore, Adj. 

Proceedings at the Rensselaer Polytechnic 
Institute. 

A full meeting of the faculty and students of the 
institute with a representation of its board of trustees, 



102 LmCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the director Professor Drowne in the chair, was hi Id 
in tlie lustitute Hall, — appropriately draped for the 
occasion — ou Tuesday afteruoou, April 18th, at 5 
o'clock^ to give a united expression of the feelings of 
all present in reference to the calamity sustained by 
the nation, in the loss, by mad assassination, of its 
devoted and accepted Chief ^Magistrate. At the close 
of some appropriate introductory remarks, l)y the di- 
rector. Judge Gould of the board of trustees was 
introduced and made an earnest and impressive 
address; after which the following resolutions, pre- 
pared by a committee of the faculty, were read by its 
secretary. 

Whereas, He, whose ways are not as our ways, has, 
in His divine wisdom, mystei'iously mingled glory and 
gloom in the cups of present national experience, by 
suifcring our devoted and beloved President, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, to fall a victim to him that licth in wait 
for blood, while crowning victories were cheering all 
patriot hearts. 

Besoked, That we mourn the loss of a tried, trusted, 
and loved civil leader; a leader, calm, safe, wise, kind 
and good; that we peculiarly sympathize with his 
stricken family ; and that we would unite with all 
our bereaved countrymen in expressing mutual sym- 
pathies, and oflering common prayers, in view of this, 
the nation's loss and sorrow. 

Resolved, That we coutinue to put steadfast trust in 
the God of our Fathers, in whom it is better to trust 
than to put confidence in man ; and that we render 
unabated gratitude, praise and thanksgiving to oar 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. JOS 

God for His blessing thus far upon the holy work of 
national restoration, and for His continued merciful 
preservation to us of so many yet remaining able civil 
and military leaders. 

Resolved, That, so far as in us lies, we will unite 
with willing fellow-countrymen everywhere in work- 
ing to "strengthen the things which remain" by giv- 
ing hearty support to all upon whom, under Divine 
direction, rests the work of guiding the nation in this 
trying hour. 

Resolml, That, in honor of the memory of the late 
President, we will wear the usual badge of mournino- 
for thirty days ; and will attend such public exercises 
as may be appointed by the authorities on the day of 
his funeral. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be published in the 
papers of the city of Troy. 

S. Edward Warren, -j 

H. B. Nason, I Committee. 

P. H. Baermann. J 

After motion, seconded in behalf of all the students, 
to adopt the above resolutions, they were supported 
by Professor Warren in a few remarks, and by Pro- 
fessor Baermann in a stirring address, and were 
then unanimously adopted, when the director, after 
brief closing remarks, declared the exercises of the 
hour to be closed. 



104 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19TII, 18(35. 
Discourse Delivered at the North Baptist Church. 

BY RET. C. P. SHELDON, U.P. 

Know ye not thai there is a prince and a ijrcat man fallen thi« dai/ in 
Israel? — 2 Samuel, iii, 38. 

These words were uttered iu reference to one of the 
most renowned princes and ablest militar}' com- 
manders of the early kingdom of Israel. lie was most 
foully and hrntall}' assassinated by a hostile rival. 
The words are iu a higher and better sense appropri- 
ate and true of the personage, whose cruel and bloody 
assassination has suddenly plunged our nation into 
grief and mourning. Such sorrow, in some of the 
elements which enter into it, the nation has never 
felt in the loss of any public othcer or man. It never 
mourned as it now mourns. The great and the good 
have at other times passed away. Presidents have 
before this died, even while occupying the chair of 
office and with its great responsibilities resting upon 
them; but never in times of national peril, and by 
the hand of human violence. The great and good 
Washington, the successful leader of our armies 
through the struggle of tlie Revolution, and tbe wise 
and honored first President of the Republic, died 
unexpectedly and suddenly ; but by natural disease, 
and in the quietness of his peaceful home, surrounded 
by his family and friends. His public mission had 



LIXCOLN 3IEM0RIAL. 105 

been fulfilled, the duties of office Lad been laid aside, 
and in a simple and unostentatious manner he was 
filling the position of a citizen, "first in the hearts of 
his countrymen," the most loved and revered of all. 
His death overwhelmed the nation in profoundest 
grief, but it came in the usual order of Divine provi- 
dence. The country was at peace, the government 
was stable, and every department of it was in healthful 
and successful operation. 

The excellent and patriotic Harrison was called 
away soon after he assumed the duties of the Presi- 
dential office ; but his death was also in a time of 
profoundest peace, and when order and law reigned 
supreme throughout the land. He had served his 
country well in other public stations, and at an age 
considerably advanced, and with physical health not 
a little enfeebled, he entered upon the duties of his 
high place. But the burden was too heavy : nature 
was overtaxed and gave way. The nation mourned 
this first loss of its executive head, and as for a good 
man and a true patriot. But there was nothing in 
the event to shock particularly the national sensi- 
bilities. 

Similarly did the sturdy and honest Taylor pass 
from the executive chair to the grave. Called un- 
expectedly b}' a people who had admired his heroic 
valor in leading armies and winning battles, and who 
had unl)Ounded trust in his sterling integrity to as- 
sume the cares and responsibilities of the chief 
14 



106 LTXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

magistracy, and to meet the excitcineuts incideut 
to such a position, the cliauge from the simple 
manner of life which had characterized him in the 
camp and his own quiet home, proved too great even 
for him, and he passed away in the first mouths of his 
presidential career. The nation was sadly disap- 
pointed, and again deeply wounded ; but the event 
was not out of the ordinary course of nature, and was 
submitted to as such. The country had just passed 
victoriously through a brief foreign war, was reposing 
in a secured jieace, and pursuing its path of un- 
bounded prosperity. 

How different in all the elements and circumstances 
attending it, the event, that has now startled and 
shocked the nation, and plunged it in deepest gloom 
and profoundest sorrow I AYe were suffering from the 
most causeless, atrocious, and gigantic rebellion, that 
had ever been sprung upon a people, and were in the 
midst of the collisions, struggles and desolations of a 
vast civil war. After four weary years of campaigns, 
battles, and victoi-ies mingled with reverses, we had 
reached a point, where the successful and speedy issue 
of the struggle was manifest. The power of the re- 
bellion was completely broken, its strongholds were 
in our possession, its resources of men and material 
were exhausted, its capital had fallen, its pretended 
government was a fugitive, its principal army broken 
and defeated had surrendered, its leading generals 
were prisoners in our hands, and the dawniugs of 



LIXCOLN MEMOmAL. 107 

approaching peace were illuminating tlie land. The 
nation was hopeful, confident and rejoicing. Its Ex- 
ecutive Chief was calm and vigorous, firm and strong 
in body and mind. Around him was a united and 
able cabinet, and in him centred the hope, confidence 
and affections of the people, as they had not at any 
previous period of his difficult yet successful adminis- 
tration. All hearts turned to him, much in feeling 
and manner, as in the nation's infancy they had 
turned to the illustrious and noble Washington. 

In an hour of relaxation from official care and 
labor, surrounded by members of his family and 
personal friends, in a place of peaceful amusement, 
nnarmed, unguarded, unsuspecting, a brutal assassin, 
the agent of a band of conspirators, and the imper- 
sonation of the demoniacal spirit and damnable hate 
which had so animated the rebellion, stole upon 
him, and with a suddenness that prevented the inter- 
vention of any averting human hand, by one fotal 
shot laid him low in death, and then brandishing a 
dao-f'-er and crying ''sic semper iijmnnis," amid the 
awful shock and terrible confusion, fled from the 
scene. It was a fearful tragedy, darker, fouler, more 
hellish than any which had before occurred in human 
history. And it seems to have been one of a series 
of acts, which were intended to strike down the 
several chief officers of the government, one other of 
whom, at about the same hour and by another hand, 
was well nigh butchered to death, upon a sick bed 
and in his own peaceful home. 



108 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

The nation was struck dumb at the suddenness and 
indescribable atrocity of the deed. Its great heart 
ahuost ceased to beat, and it bowed itself in tears and 
an agou}' of sorrow, and cried uuto God for help. 
And now it rises \\\i with the stern demand for ven- 
geance upon the perpetrators, instigators, and abettors 
of the horrid crime. Had Abraham Lincoln died in 
the ordinary course of disease, or even, as the com- 
mander in chief of our military forces, fallen upon the 
field of battle, great and terrible as the nation would 
have felt the calamity to be, it would have calmly and 
submissively bowed to the appointment of Providence, 
and under its great loss, patiently pursued the path 
divinely marked out for it. It seeks, it strives, and 
we believe it will be helped to do so now. But oh, 
it is so hard. So deep is the darkness that enshrouds 
the event, it has in it such elements of human 
agency aud demoniacal passion and hate, that it 
becomes the sorest trial ever laid upon the nation's 
faith and trust. But still we uiust, wo will bow 
aud trust. AVc will see in it the hand of God, and 
hear in it the voice of God. "^"e will sadly bear 
away and lay in the grave the mutilated and lifeless 
form of our great and good President. We will 
commit to Him "who ruleth over all" and to future 
developments, the explanation of this great sorrow, 
too dark for us now to understand and comprehend, 
and then, leaning upon His arm and seeking His 
guidance, we will with one mind, one heart, and one 



LIXCOLN MEMOMAL. 109 

purpose, arise to give the finishing blow to tliis un- 
holy rebellion, to consolidate our government and 
country in peace, and to pursue the path of national 
prosperity and greatness. 

Let us now for a moment consider the questions, 
what have we lost? who was Abraham Lincoln? 
Born in Kentucky in 1809, a poor boy, destitute of 
the ordinary means of education and culture, by 
honest industry and indomitable energy, he at 
length placed himself in the front rank of one 
of the most honored and cultivated professions in 
our country, and took a high position among the 
men of his time. He served several years in the 
legislature of his adopted state, Illinois, was elected a 
member of the national congress in 1847, was twice 
the candidate of his party for the United States senate, 
and was nominated for the presidency in May, 1860, 
and elected to that office on the 6th of j^ovember fol- 
lowing. He was inaugurated on the 4th of March, iu 
1861. So well did he perform the duties of that high 
office, that he was reelected on the 8th of ISTovember, 
1864, by one of the largest majorities ever given to a 
candidate for that office. 

When first he entered upon the duties of President, 
the country was in a most deplorable condition. 
Several of the states had seceded from the Union, 
others were threatening to do so ; a lai'ge number of 
the forts, arsenals, custom houses, and militar}' posts, 
had been wrested from the government ; the southern 



110 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

confetlerac}- had been formally organized; treason 
was rampant in the highest places of the government, 
and the rebellion liad defiautlj' entered upon its career. 
He knew not whom he could trust, nor upon whose 
loyalty and support he could rely. Spies and agents 
of the rebellion were in the offices of the government, 
and scattered in all parts of tiie land. Such difficul- 
ties and dangers had never environed a President in 
the discharge of his duties. His own life even was 
not safe. He was calm, considerate, and conciliatory 
in his policy, yet firm, determined, and unswervingly 
loj-al to the constitution and the country. His hon- 
esty, integrity and patriotism were above suspicion, 
and he drew the loyal heart of the country to him. 
He had been but a little more than a mouth in office, 
when the attack was made on Fort Sumter, which 
was followed by its surrender and tlie inauguration of 
the war. I will not follow the history of the war 
during these sad and bloody four years, nor his course 
in reference to it. The events are fresh in your mem- 
or}-. Suffice it tc say, the war had been successful 
under his administration, and he lived long enough 
to see repossessed nearly all the posts and fortifica- 
tions wliich had been wrested from the government 
by the plottings of treason, the national banner float- 
ing in every state in the Union, nearly all the rebel 
seaports in possession of the national forces, the sur- 
render and dispersion of the principal army of the 
rebellion, and the overthrow of the main cause which 



LINCOLN MEMOEIAL. m 

produced it, human slavery. He died on the very day 
that the old flag, which four years before had been 
lowered by the force of armed treason from the walls 
of Sumter, was raised by loyal hands to its place 
again, and floated triumphantly in the breeze. He 
died with the dawniugs of peace and reunion glad- 
dening his eyes. 

The work of Abraham Lincoln was done, and God 
permitted him to be removed. But so far as human 
hands and passions had to do with it, "the deep dam- 
nation of his taking olf " we can never forget nor 
forgive. It was most atrocious in its character, com- 
bining the elements of horrid tragedy, as no like event 
recorded in human history had combined them — most 
shocking of all the acts which degraded human na- 
ture had produced. It was the consummation in full 
development of the demoniacal spirit of slavery and 
the rebellion, that spirit which had stricken down a 
Sumner in the national Senate house, which had 
plotted to assassinate the President before his first 
inaguration, which had beat and shot down our 
soldiers in the streets of Baltimore, which had hanged 
and murdered Union men, which had starved priso- 
ners to death in the foulest of human pens, which had 
applied the incendiary torch to our peaceful cities, 
and now crowned its hellish acts with this terrible 
deed. It was not the result of individual hate. It 
was not an individual act even. Its author was 
merely an agent, carrying out the plottings, abettings. 



112 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

ami plans of the rebellion, impelled by the inherent 
barbari.sm of slavery. Toward sueh a spirit M'e can 
indulge uo peace nor clemency. 

And then, contemplate the folly and uselessness of 
the act. This goveruraeut is not a one man power. 
The removal of no single individual, nor of several 
individuals, could stop its wheels or jostle its move- 
ment. This the conspirators well knew, or might 
have known. To strike down the President there- 
fore, did not change the government nor weaken its 
power. It moved right on, and it would have moved 
right on, had they fully accomplished their plans. 
This they might have expected. Xo good could come 
to the rebellion in the accomplishment of their pur- 
l^oses. The assassination of the President, and es- 
pecially tit the time it occurred, could add no strength 
to their cause. It only weakens it and makes it the 
more odious. The act is, therefore, marked by the 
weakest follij as well as the foulest crime. It could 
only gratify the most malignant hate, and stamps the 
rebellion with a damnation and disgrace, that coming 
years and the judgment of the world, shall only make 
the more strong and emphatic. 

In the death of Abraham Lincoln, the nation has 
lost one of the M'isest, purest, best of rulers, and even 
the rebellions south, one of its truest friends. That 
he committed mistakes, he himself frankly acknow- 
ledged. And where is the man, that has the assurance 
to say, that in his circumstances, aud environed by his 



LI]S'COLN MEMORIAL. H3 

difficulties, he sboukl have committed less ones. 
Coming generations will estimate his character and 
appreciate his greatness and excellence, as we amid 
the passions, prejudices and excitements of the time, 
are unable to do. Says a foreign writer recently of 
him, "We all remember the animated eulogium on 
General Washington which Lord Macaulay passed 
parenthetioally in his essay on Hampden. 'It was, 
when to the sullen tyranny of Land and Charles had 
succeeded the fierce conflict of sects and factions, 
ambitious of ascendency or burning for reveno;e ; it 
was, when the vices and ignorance which the old 
tyranny had engendered, threatened the new freedom 
with destruction, that England missed the sobriety, 
the self-command, the perfect rectitude of intention, 
to which the history of revolutions furnishes no paral- 
lel, or furnishes a parallel in Washington alone.' If 
that high eulogium was fully earned, as it was, by the 
first great President of the United States, we doubt if 
it has not been as well earned by the Illinois peasant 
proprietor and 'village lawyer,' whom, by some divine 
inspiration or providence, the republican caucus of 
1860 substituted for Mr. Seward as their nominee for 
the Presidenfs chair. Mr. Lincoln has persevered 
through all, without ever giving way to anger, or 
despondency, or exultation, or popular arrogance, or 
sectarian fanaticism, or cast prejudice, visibly growing 
in force of character, in self possession, and in mag- 
nanimity, till in his last short message to congress on 
15 



114 LISVOLy MEMORIAL. 

tlie fourtli of Maivli (the inaugural) we can deteet no 
longer the rude and illiterate mould of a village 
lawj-er's thought, hut find it replaced by a grasp of 
principle, a dignity of manner, and a solemnity of 
purpose, which would have been unworthy neither of 
Hampden, nor of Cromwell, while his gentleness and 
geuerosity of feeling towards his foes, are almost 
greater than we should expect from either of them." 
This is high testimony to his goodness and greatness, 
but the statement is not overdrawn. 

In his sterling good sense, in his profound know- 
ledge of human nature, in his wise interpretation of 
passing events, in his adaptation to the demands of 
the time, in his ingenuous frankness, in his sturdy 
honest^', in his incorruptible integrity, in his imswerv- 
ing patriotism, in his kindness to friends and magna- 
nimity to foes, in his excellence and goodness of 
heart, he will rank among the tbremost men and 
rulers of his time. He did not attempt to be what 
he could not be, the cultured scholar, the accomplished 
diplomatist, the eloquent orator: he was himself, ori- 
ginal, practical, strong, a man of the people, a great 
and good President. And yet, some of the brightest 
gems of thought and language that ever flowed from 
human pen, or fell from human lip^, have come from 
him. And the crowning thing of all is, Abraham Lin- 
coln was a Christian, a man of faith and of prayer. 
The recognition of God, and a reliance upon God, 
have been most marked characteristics of his prcsi- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. II5 

dential career, increasing and growing more prominent 
as tlie time passed on. We doubt not he has been 
called to a higher service, in the realms of eternal 
truth and life. Thus far in the history of our country, 
no name will so link itself to the name of Washington, 
as the name of Abraham Lincoln. So long as there 
is an emancipated bondman, or a descendant of his, 
in this land, so long will that name be revered and 
remembered, with devoutest gratitude to God. 

We bow in the darkness and greatness of our grief 
submissively to Him, who has permitted our ruler to 
be taken from us. We trust Him still, for ourselves 
and for our country. May the example of the illus- 
trious dead be a copy to our coming statesmen. May 
his life be a lesson to all the young men of our land, 
and may God sanctity his death, to the benefit of ail. 

" Thy converse drew us with delight. 
The mea of rathe and riper years: 
The feeble soul, a haunt of fears, 
Forgot his weakness in thy sight. 

'• On thee the loyal-hearted hung, 

The proud was half disarmed of pride, 
Nor cared the serpent at thy side 
To flicker with his treble tongue. 

•' The stern were mild when thou wert by, 
The flippant put himself to school 
And heard thee, and the brazen fool 
Was softened, and he knew not why. 



116 IjyCOLN MEMOIITAL. 

■• And, doubtless, unto thee is given 
A life that bears immortal fruit 
In such great offices as suit 
The full-grown energies of heaven." 



Serjion Preached at the jSTorth Second Street 
Methodist EriscoPAL Church. 

BY EEV. J. WESLEY C.AKHART, D.I). 

Tru-'^t in him at all iimcs ^ ye people, jtour nut i/oi/r Iteiirt hrfore him: 
Ood is II refuge for us. — I'salm, Ixii, 8. 

Never, perhaps, in the history of the world, did the 
heart of ariv nation throb with such sorrow as does 
onrs to day. 

We have siitiered great national hereavenicnts be- 
fore, in the deatli of Washington, Lafa^-ette and others 
of less distinction ; but these sorrows were under 
other and less aggravating circumstances. Then 
peace smiled on all the land. The great life-work 
of Washington and Lafiiyette seemed to be done. 
They went to tlie garner of the Lord, like the shock 
of corn fully ripe and ready for its master's use. 
They were permitted to die peacefully, surrounded by- 
kindred and friends to soothe and comfort. 

Not so with the martyr Abraham Lincoln. Li tlie 
midst of years and usefulness he was struck down l)y 
the hand of a cowardly assassin, one who dared not 
meet him face to face. Severer is the wound, since 
hearts were already bleeding over loved ;nul lost ones, 
in every city, village and town throughout the land. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 117 

We moiiru to day, not merely the Chief ^Magistrate 
of the nation, but each feels that he has lost a person- 
al friend. It would seem as though in every house 
there was one dead. Abraham Lincoln was enshrined 
in the hearts of this great people as no other man 
ever was. Even his political enemies, how bitter so- 
ever they may have been, feel that a great and good 
man has fallen, and they hasten to pay that tribute to 
his memory which they feel his noble qualities merit- 
ed, and are found mingling with the weeping multi- 
tudes every where. Tear drops glisten in the eyes of 
the little children, as they reverently speak his name. 
Our sorrow is intensified In- the peculiar combina- 
tion of circumstances attending it. Four years ago, 
rebellion fired its first gun on Fort Sumter. That 
gun echoed and reechoed throughout the land. It 
was heard in every valley and was returned with 
added thunder from every hillside, until the sous of 
freedom poured in almost endless columns, from New 
England, from the Empire state and from the bound- 
less prairies of the west, to avenge the insult ofl:ered 
to our flag, and protect the altars of liberty. Never 
before did the world witness such an uprising of a 
great people. The strife raged, longer, louder and 
more bloody, until the gory folds of war hung over 
all our hearts. It was war in fearful earnest. 

•' 'Twas war, war, war, with ))lood and woe; 

Widows in tears, and children without sires ; 
Uncounted, trampling hosts — a ceaseless flow; 



118 Lixcor.y memoiual. 

TIc;irt.s bunit to Jross by soiTOw's (iiieuclilf>s fires — 
Enjtheis erecting brothers' funeral pyres, 
And luvers weeping o'er some portrait fair 

That tells of one whose noble heart aspires 
The victor's joy to know, his palm to bear, 
And on his honored brow the crown of conqueror wear." 

At Icngtli, victory great and glorious blesses ovir 
arms. The dawn of peace paints the eastern sky. 
Tliere are rifts in the eloiid of war. The sound of 
battle recedes. The air is less sulphureous than before, 
and on every breeze is borne the victorious shout of 
freemen. Sumter is again ours. Four years from 
the day it fell, the same old flag, so gallantly defended 
by Major Anderson and his brave band, is again 
thrown to the breeze of heaven above those battered 
ramparts, amid the joyous acclamations of a delivered 
people. On that same day, M'hen our hopes were so 
high and our joy so unbounded, the arrow enters our 
hearts again. The heaviest sorrow of the wliole war 
falls upon us. 

What extremes sometimes meet in our expei-iences 
here! AVhat contrasts sometimes appear, in the his- 
tory of indi\-iduals and nations ! The news is flashed 
on tlie lightning's wing to ever}- home and every 
heart — "The President is assassinated !" The whole 
nation bows itself in sorrow, and is draped in mourn- 
ing. Never was a nation's grief sincerer ! ISTever was 
such a spectacle, on such a scale, witnessed before! 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Hardin county, Ken- 
tucky, February 12th, 1809. At an early age he 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 119 

removed with his father's family to Spencer county, 
Indiana, where, for ten years, he labored on his father's 
fai-m. His educational advantages were limited, he 
having attended school in all, onlj' about a year. 

On the breaking out of the Black Hawk war in 
1832, he enlisted as a private, and was elected captain 
of a volunteer company. This event, he said, gave 
liim more satisfaction than any other success of his 
life. 

Such was his character for honesty, sobriety and 
intelligence, that he was soon called upon to hold 
responsible civil trusts. In such high esteem was he 
held by his countrymen, that in 1846 he was elected a 
representative in congress, and took his seat on the 
first Monday of December, 18-17. On May 16th, 1860, 
the Republican National C'onvention met at Chicago, 
and on motion of the chairman of the E"ew York 
delegation, the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for 
the presidency of the United States was made unani- 
mous, and in November following, he was elected by a 
large majority. 

He came to the presidential chair amid the threat- 
enings of war and the greatest uncertainty as to who 
were the friends or the foes of the republic. With 
his administration of righteousness and wisdom dur- 
ing those four terrible years, we are familiar. Never 
before were such responsilnlities imposed upon the 
chief magistrate of a nation. Never before were they 
met so manfully, and discharged with such fidelity. 



120 LlSCOLy MEMORTAL. 

"\\'itli cliild-likc trust in (_iod, he was divinely led. 
Sustained by the prayers of a great people, he was 
made, under God, the benefactor of iiis race. Mil- 
lions of freedinen rise up to call him lile.sscd. As the 
ages roll on, his name will brighten. HisAvas a mind 
of superior power. His a cliaraeter of lieautiful sym- 
metry. The circumstances under which he was ri'ared, 
as well as the natural disposition of his heart, made 
him preeminently one of the people. He thought as 
the people thought, felt as the people felt, and was, in 
the noblest sense, our brother. 

The elevation of such an one from tlio humbler 
walks of life to the highest position in the gift of the 
people, shows the genius of our American institutions. 
"Without material wealth, or family renown ; without 
liberal advantages for learning; without literary at 
tainmeuts to distinguish him ; enured to toil and 
hardship, he rose aljove his fellows liy virtue of 
superior natural endowments of mind and heart. 

It is the glory of American institutions that they 
open the way to greatness and renown to all however 
humble. " All men are created equal " .shall be our 
motto forever. In what other land and nation could 
the elevation of one in such humble circumstances to 
such a position, have occurred ? Trees of such luxu- 
riant growth and maturity are indigenous to no soil 
but ours. 

His was a noble and generous nature. He was true 
to the interests of his country, yet forgiving towards 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 121 

her foes. He was strict in the administratiou of jus- 
tice, with no spirit of revenge to gratify. He shrank 
from war, with all the tenderness of a maiden, and 
yet, when all other hearts faltered and grew faint, his 
w;;s undaunted. When others were desponding, he 
was hopefal. 

He adopted no policy of his own, l)ut with his 
finger on the popular pulse he watched the sentiment 
of the nation, knowing that the evil would be as 
great to be in advance of his times as to be behind. 
He kept pace with the times, and was governed by 
the sentiment of the people ; taking as his motto, 
" Vox 2^0/JuU, vox del." 

There were times when we thought him too slow and 
too lenient. But greater haste and severity might 
have ruined the nation. History will undoubtedly 
record, and indeed has already begun to do so, that 
his was the course of wisdom. His acts, as the Chief 
Magistrate of the mition, must live forever. Some of 
them — the crowning acts of his administration, are 
engrossed on the imperishable records of eternity. 
That act, whereby four millions of human beings 
were freed from bondage, is without a parallel in the 
history of sovereigns. The proclamation of freedom 
was like the angel in mid heaven, crying, " Behold, I 
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be 
.to all people." 

Intensely interesting has it been to watch the 
onward march of sentiment with reference to the sin 
16 



122 LiycOLX MFAIOIUAL. 

and curse of luiuiau slavery. Tlie strife was louo- 
and hard, but at length culnnuated, wheu God eanie 
in might to the rescue. It seemed that althougli 
atonenieiit liad already been made for individual sins, 
there could lie no wiping out of our great national 
transgression without a furtlier shedding of blood. 

The inniiortal utterance of President Lineohi njmn 
this subject in his late inaugural, l)roug]it the grateful 
applause of the good, and tlie scoffs of the vile and 
unappreciative. He said, "Woe unto the world 
because of oft'enees, for it must needs be that offences 
come; but woe to that man Ity whom the offence 
Cometh. If we shall suppose that American Slavei-y 
is one of these offences — which in the providence of 
God, must needs come, but which, having contuined 
through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, 
and that He gives to both north and south this ter- 
rible war as the M'oe due to those by whom the 
ofience came — shall we discern there is any depart- 
ure from those Divine attributes which the believers 
in a living God always ascribe to Him ? Fondly do 
we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty 
scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if (lod 
wills that it continue nntil all the wealth piled by the 
bondman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited 
toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood 
drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn 
with the sword, as was said three thousand j-ears ago, 
so still it must be said that the judgments of the 
Lord are true and riu'hteous altoo-etlicr." 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 123 

It took a long time for the people to come up to 
that position where they could without hesitancy say, 
"Let slavery perish, but save the nation." Wheu 
the people said Oinl, Abraham Lincoln said, " Open 
the prison doors, and let the captives go free !" And 
the millions went forth, and the tramp of freedom's 
hosts will resound throughout the coming ages. 

One such act in the life of any man is enough for 
human greatness. 

The world had scarcely yet come to regard Abra- 
ham Lincoln as among the truly great men of the 
earth, when the murderer's hand hurled him to the 
grave. ]^ow, as seen in contrast with the renowned 
of the world, he outshines them all, and yet it can 
with truth be said of him, lie was only great as he 
was good. 

We wonder at the strange providence of God, that 
allowed such an event to occur at this time, and under 
these circumstances, and well we may, for His provi- 
dences are profoundly mysterious. We know nothing 
of God's processes in providence, nature or grace. 

The dew-drop that hangs in the bell of a flower, no 
less than the majestic mountain that rears its head 
above the clouds, or the mighty plauet that whirls in 
space — is a world of wonder. 

Man is equally lost in the contemplation of the 
earth-Avorm, or himself. 

So in grace. " The wind bloweth where it listeth, 
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell 



124 r./xcoi.y MF.mmiAL. 

whence it coiiieth, tiiul -wliitlier it o-oetli : so is every 
oue that is l>oni of tlie .spirit." "Without contro- 
versy, great is the mystery of godliness." AYe need 
not tlien expect to understand the purposes of Jehovah 
when friends sicken and die, wlien the most prominent 
and useful are cut off in the bloom and vigor of their 
manhood, and the pauper, the inehriate, the felon is 
spared to he a burden, a curse to society. 

"(!od moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants Ills footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm." 

There is one point connected with this subject up- 
on which we would be especially guarded, and which 
we would impress upon all your hearts, and that is, 
God did not ordain this assa.s.sination. He did not, 
strictly speaking, permit, but suffered it. To say that 
he ordained it, is to say that the murderer committed 
no sin against God and no crime against humanity. 
To say that God permitted it, is to say that he sanc- 
tioned it. He sujffered it. He does not see fit to pre- 
vent all that he may hate. With reference to many 
things, He doubtless sees it more to his glory to suffer 
them to be so, than to inteifere and by almighty 
power, prevent them, and consequently^ he says of 
them, "Suffer it to be so now." So when the hellish 
work of conspiracy against the President's life was 
going on, he said, "Suffer it to be so now." And 
when the cowardly assassin, bent ou the accomplish- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 125 

mciit of his fiendish purpose, entered that private box 
and aimed the deadly weapon at the head of the Pre- 
sident, God said, "Suifer it to be so now," and it was 
done, the fearful deed was done ! 

Abraham Lincoln's mission to this people vmy have 
been at an end. His death may serve the purposes of 
God with reference to the nation better than his life. 
Not that his life was unimportant, but it may be that 
we had come to depend too much on him, and God 
suii'ered him to be taken away, to show us that the 
salvation of the nation was in His hands, and safe ; 
that He can carry on His work though His workmen 
fall. 

Leniency to traitors was once necessary-, and una- 
voidable, to a great extent. And although mercy 
should be shown by the government to the mass of 
those in arms against us, yet the time has come when 
the leaders in the rebellion must be punished. Of 
them it may be said, "Mercy to the individual would 
be cruelty to the state." Leniency to such would 
prove the curse of the country. We have not yet be- 
gun to punish treason. We scarcely appreciate the 
nature of the crime. 

All through the north as well as the south are men 
unpunished, who have not only expressed sympathy 
with traitors, but have rendered them aid and comfort. 
God deals Avith rebels in a sterner way. Every ac- 
count in the bible of his dealings with rebels proves 
this. 



126 rJXCOLS MEMORIAL. 

It is God's purpose that treason against tliis govern- 
ment sliall I)e punislied. President J^infoln's position 
of leniency suenied to be a necessity from u-hieli lie 
eonld not well recede. He was suffered to l»e removed 
from that position, by means the best caleulated to 
excite, not a spirit of revenge but a desire and deter- 
minatioi: on the part of the people that the penalty of 
the law should be inflicted. Now justice can be 
measured out. I pray that it may be. The psalmist 
prays with reference to his enemies, "Let death seize 
upon them, and let them go down quick into hell." 
His enemies were incorrigible. He saw no chance for 
repentance, and that in view of the mischief they were 
working, hell and the grave were the fittest places for 
them. Is there not an analogy l)etween liis enemies 
and ours? 

Let treason go unpunished, k't the leaders be scat- 
tered and these branches of the deadly Upas will 
strike themselves into the soil, l)ecoi;;e rooted, and 
again bring forth their hellish fruit. 

Andrew Johnson is President. Our duty is now 
phiin. " Trust in God at all times." Such confidence 
will have the effect to calm our hearts and quiet our 
tears, to revive hope, to inspire confidence in our 
cause, and to insure the blessing of heaven. It will 
nerve the national heart for noliler aeliievements ; and 
if need be, for deeper sorrow and intenser sufiering 
and further saci-ifice. 

We have trusted too much in men and ii'enerals, in 



LINCOLN MEMOBL\L. 127 

uumbers and skill. We have, to a great extent, 
ignored God. Let us now acknowledge Him. Our 
privilege is to pour out our hearts before Him. We 
are not merely to pray to Him, in the ordinary accep- 
tation of the term, but to wrestle with Him. Did you 
ever go to God with any great desire? Did you feel that 
that desire was all absorbing, and uppermost in your 
heart? Did yon feel that the granting of your request 
was in accordance with the will of God, and that you 
could not be denied? Did you allow no object to 
intervene between you and your God ? Then you know 
what it is to wrestle with God. In like manner go to 
Him now. Pour out your heart before Him in behalf 
of the interests of this nation. God has already heard 
our prayer, and has averted many a sorrow that would 
otherwise have come upon us. He hath spared the 
nation for the righteous' sake. 

Let those who have vilified the President and cursed 
the government, go before their Maker and repeat as 
in dust and ashes at his feet, if haply they may tind 
Him, and be forgiven. 

Address Delivered in the Second Presbyterian 
Church. 

BY EEV. U. S. CREGORT. 

The event which has called us to these sad solemni- 
ties to-day, is one which has clotlied the places of 
state in sackcloth and left a nation in mourning. It 
is always wise to give heed to the striking providences 



128 LiycoLy memorial. 

wliich li-oiu time to time startle the nations as witli 
an audible voice of God. Not to give heed to such a 
providence as tins, not to permit it to settle in the 
heart and to leave its impress upon the eliaraeter au d 
lite, would be evidence of a degree of insensibility 
which should arouse and shock every Christian man. 
These hundreds of cities draped in mourning, the 
silence in these millions of homes, these busy scenes 
of traffic hushed and darkened, these ten thousand 
sanctuaries clad iu sable, these many eyes to which 
tears are no longer strangers, proclaim to day the 
deep and solemn feeling of a bereaved people. The 
greatness, the suddenness of the calamity, accom- 
panied at once Avith circumstances of the most tender 
and affecting interest and of the most horrifying and 
revolting nature, speaks to the heart iu irresistible 
language. Death is always a solemn thing, opening 
up before us as it does visions of the grave, of the 
judgment, and of eternit}' with its rewards and retri- 
butions; but it is made a doubly solemn thing to-day, 
by the circumstances in which it is pi-cssed upon our 
attention. 

Nothing could firing home to us more forcibly the 
thought that ice can ncrer be 'placed beyond the reach of 
death. Greatnesf: or eminence in position cannot give 
immuuity from death. It would be vain to deny to 
him, whom this most atrocious murder of the modern 
ages has taken off, the title of great. True he may 
have had none of those qualities that dazzle, that 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 129 

awaken the enthusiasm of an hour, but there was 
something more substantial than these in liis charac- 
ter winch will cause his name to be written above all 
merely glittering names, on tlie scroll of fame. Called 
to preside in the grandest national crisis in the world's 
historj-, to guide this mighty nation in an overturning 
beside which all the other revolutions of the age are 
dwarfed into mere child's play, he has yiowherc been 
foimd icanting. Entering upou his work in a capital, 
a very sink of corruption, he escaped the contamina- 
tion. Beset from the first by political harpies, he 
cast them oft" and gathered around him the wisdom 
and strength of that party of many political creeds 
but of one heart, the mighty union party of tlie land. 
Slandered and maligned by radicals of every sort and 
all extremes, he took his stand like a rock for the 
right, seemingly insensible alike to censure and to 
flattery. And while the mighty struggle has been 
going on through the years, we have felt sometimes 
how keen and piercing an eye has been iixed upon it 
to interpret the march of events, and liow mightv a 
hand has been constantly shaping the policy of the 
nation. Future generations alone will comprehend 
it fully. 

But one thing is plain even now, and that is, that 
the man of whom it can be said in such a mighty 
struggle — almost mightier than the world has ever 
seen before — the man of whom it can be said that 
he has not been found wantimj, not wanting in insight 
17 



130 LJ.\COLi\ MEMORIAL. 

aud grasp of tliought, not wanting in strengtli of will 
and power, not wanting in lionesty and stern integ- 
rity, not wanting in a deep sense of his God-given 
mission, tiiat man, however many and varied his 
faults, was yrcitt, not in position only but bi nature. 
But this human greatness, felt at home, aud begin- 
ning to be acknowledged evei-ywhere abroad, this 
human greatness which under God had solved the 
problem which the nations lu\d proclaimed insoluble, 
could not save its envied possessor from death — sud- 
den and fearful death ! 

The ghnj of the hour of friumph. when that triumph 
is the success of a nation, of freedom, of humauitv, 
of justice and of God, could not stay the mighty and 
universal coucpieror. While the flag of freedom was 
being flung to the breeze again at Sumter, to assure 
blood-stained treason of the ascendency of the 
national authority on the very birth-ground of this 
wicked, treacherous rebellion, and while tlie iiews of 
the discomfiture and destruction of mighty rebel 
hosts was being borne on the wings of wind and 
lightning to the nations of the earth, this nation was 
roused b}- the news of his most horrible assassination. 

The grartdcsi mcKjmmordlij of soul cannot save from 
death. There must have been a grandeur of soul 
about the man who could pass through four years of 
such a struggle, aud then come to a second imuigui'al'' 
address with those wonderful words, " with charity to 
all aud malice for none," and so illustrate this in his 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 13;^ 

life as did Abraham Lincoln. Four years, during 
which no day passed in which the organs and leaders 
of this rebellion, whit'h is now passing away as chaft' 
before the breath of Almighty justice, did not fero- 
ciously assail and malign, and strive to fix his name 
along with everything that is l)asest in nature and in 
histor}', in earth and in hell, and yet four years iu 
which he did not utter one word of vindictiveness ! 
Four such years, when the least demand of justice 
was death to every traitor, were crowned by that act 
of clemency which may well astonish the world, in 
which he showed how ready he was to forgive ! Yet 
such magnanimity could not save him from death^ 
and death too 1)y so foul a murder, at the hand of 
those against whom God has written himself the 
eternal foe, though he had shown himself so ready to 
forgive and overlook the crime whicli cried out to 
heaven. 

The deepest affection of a great people cannot save from 
death. Here is oue before us, who against the strong- 
est opposing iuflueuces, and in spite of all the bitter- 
ness of a great strife, had won his way to all honest 
hearts, adding, we trust, the Christian to the man. 
Here is one whose life had conquered political and 
partizan i.rejudicos and made his love a delight to 
the nation, ilorc and more unitedly, more and more 
iirndy this people have gathered round him through 
the years of tumult and conflict, until the man who 
had emptied his coffers iu the gi'cat and glorious 



132 i.ixvoLy Mh:}[ORiAL. 

cause, and the soldier who had faced death in a 
luindred hattles, and the fatlier and motlier who luid 
laid their son upon the altar of liberty, to be sacri- 
ficed and then buried in a nameless grave, and the 
widowed wife and the fatherless children who looked 
tearfully and anxiously into the darkened future, 
until all felt that in him they had a friend and son 
and brother and husband and father. At such an 
hour came the fearful blow, and it fell upon the nation 
like a death in every home. Even a nation's heart 
overflowing so with love, could not avert the blow. 
Death is an omnipotent and remorseless conqueror. 

What a lesson of death then to the nation to-day. 
Death loves a shining mark. Nothing can guard 
against it, when the hour comes : no position, neither 
the lowliness of the hovel no the exaltation of the pre- 
sident's mansion, neither the helplessness of the child 
nor the strength of the man : no earihly love, not a 
wife's with its tenderness, not a iather's with its 
strength, not a mother's with its depth, not a nation's 
with the tenderness aiid strength and de[)tli of all 
these. Death awaits you. It may come in an in- 
stant — without leaving time to ask, "Am I prepared 
to die ?" It should impress this solemn thought upon 
every one in this nation. God has come into the 
high places that he might speak to each and all. Oh ! 
will this people give heed ? 

But God has come to teach us the mnity of man, even 
at his best estate. " Altogether vanity! " How empty 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 133 

a trust is he. people, "put not j-our trust iu 
princes, nor iu the son of man in whom is no help." 
"What are all the great ones in God's plan after all but 
the most iusigniticant instruments? To-day there 
lies cold and Iowmu yonder capital of the nation, one 
of these chosen instruments of the great King. God 
himself seemed strangely to point him out and to 
cling to him through the years. Selected as candidate 
for the chief magistracy in preference to our wisest 
statesman, called to fulfil a work to which a nation 
■would have shrunk from calling an untried man, led 
on in ways the wisdom of which it has taken time to 
justify — Providence had seemed, like the nation, so 
to cling to the man ! But suddenly he is cut down 
by the hand of a brutal murderer. The news flashes 
with lightning wings across the nation. A wail goes 
up to heaven from every house, and all eyes fill with 
bliudiug tears. Yonder where we looked upon our 
great and honored, and trusted, and beloved Presi- 
dent, there is only dust and ashes — only dust and 
ashes ! O nation, put not your trust in princes, nor 
in the son of man iu whom there is no help ! God's 
mighty work — the triumph of truth and justice and 
freedom and humanity, does not in the least depend 
upon any of these. The workmen perish but the 
work goes on — on — on through the ages — on — on 
through the nations, — on — on to final, complete and 
everlasting triumph. Whatever oppose, the day shall 
come when the grand principles of the gospel shall be 



134 jjycoLy memouim. 

cvorywluTC acknowledged with tbeir fVeedoiu, and no 
foot of earth be cursed by error, injustice, tyranny or 
oppression. These great ones at best are little more 
than dust and ashes, at most Init tlie trail reeds with 
which God's omnipotence smites down the wicked and 
the oppressor. Of them we may say with tlie divinely 
inspired preacher, '• Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." 

But in speaking of mortality and vanity, God's 
voice to-day calls again to repentance. God forbid that 
we should forget that He has been chastising us for 
sin. Universal corruption added to the vow to con- 
sign man, made in God's own image, to perpetual 
bondage, called for Divine justice. The corruption 
which has fattened on even these million deaths de- 
mands rebuke. God lias been smitting us as well as 
this iniquitous rebellion, smiting us on all these thou- 
sand battle Belds. Now, again to-day lie comes by 
this most startUng voice, and demands of the nation, 
"Have you repented?" Oh! have we repented? God's 
heart is full, but, O ! justice will have her way — eter- 
lud justice — until we repent. This event may teach 
us that God's storehouse is full. We know not what 
may await au impenitent people. Ciod's ways are a 
mighty deep. Repent — repent at His feai'fully solemn 
command. 

But God speaks to us to-day of Justice, as well as of 
death and nothingness and repentance. The innocent 
blood cries out to heaven for vengeance, not simply 
against the miserable, misguided, besotted tool of the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 135 

traitor, wlio struck for him the blow that has bereaved 
a nation, but vengeance against the traitors all over 
the land who nerved and guided the fiendish blow ; 
against the spirit of the savage and the fiend that has 
urged and uplicld tlie cold-blooded butchery of these 
naillions, which doomed to starvation the thousands in 
the prison-pens of Andersonville and Eichmond, and 
which has drenched this whole land in blood and 
tears. Sucli men, wherever found, as the leaders of 
evil, are fit only for death ; and while it is the great 
duty of the lionr to extend the hand of forgiveness 
and love to all the misguided victims of such traitors, 
it is a duty stern as retribution itself to which this 
awfully solemn providence has called tliis nation, to 
see to it that there be no immunity to treason, no 
price paid for it in the future, that shall ensure des- 
truction to the coming generations. Justice, at such 
times, justice to the murderer, justice without fear or 
passion, justice whicli alndes by God's eternal word 
and God's etei-nal right is the only safety for the pre- 
sent, for the coming time and the coming generations : 
and to justice, this awful providence, this fearful crime 
has called this nation with a voice like a judgment 
trumpet. 

God grant that we may not forget this justice, this 
repentance, this vanity and mortality of man, and in 
the coming future it will be seen that this bloodiest 
murder of the modern ages has not, in God's great 
providence, been in vaia. 



136 LINCOLX MEMOniAL. 

Address Delivered in the Second Street Presby- 
terian Churcu. 

BY REV. DINCAN KEXNEDV, D.U. 

At this hour, an event is occurring at tlic Capitol 
of the nation, upon which the gaze of the millions of 
our countrymen is intensely fixed. It is not what a 
few days since, we anticipated it would he, a scene of 
gladness, accompanied by ever}' outward demonstra- 
tion of rejoicing. On the contrary, it is one of funereal 
gloom, of tears, of unaffected grief. How abrupt the 
transition from the anticipated to the real, and bow 
mighty the contrast between the two ! How strange 
that amid circumstances well fitted to beget the loudest 
pajans of national joy; when numerous armies are 
yielding to the power of the government ; when strong- 
fortifications are crumbling at our feet ; when skillful 
generals are stricken with despair, and veteran sol- 
diers are scattering like the leaves of autumn ; when 
treason is suffering a fatal exhaustion, and rebellion 
is in its dying struggle ; wlien the drama of blood, 
witli its fearful scenes of carnage, is culminating in 
the restoration of peace and concord ; when the glori- 
ous banner of the Union has just been unfurled in the 
very place, where, four years .-iince, it was stricken 
down by parricidal hands ; how strange that amid 
such stirring and heart-thrilling events, the day should 
be one of unaftected sorrow, and that the whole coun- 
try should be clothed in habiliments of mourians! 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 137 

For a solution of this mystery, we ask you to look 
at what is now passing at the Capital. There is seen 
a densely formed procession made up of myriads of 
all classes of our fellow citizens, moving in slow and 
measured tread, marked by every token of sadness, 
bearing forth the mortal part of one, whose official 
life has commanded deeper feeling, stronger affection, 
fiercer animosity, and a more extended influence than 
have gathered around any other Chief Magistrate of 
this people, since the "Father of his Country" sunk 
to rest amid the hallowed shades of Mount Vernon ! 
The true patriot has accomplished his mission ; the 
loving heart has ceased to beat ; the mild eye is for- 
ever closed; the friendly voice is silent; the head that 
had toiled so unremittingly for the integrity of the 
nation, and had so successfully planned for the rees- 
tablishment of prosperity and peace, is being laid upon 
its pillow of earth, and we are taking our fiirewell 
look of all that remains of Abraham Lincoln, the 
latest, and among the best of the presidents of the 
United States ! No wonder the nation is in tears ! 
No wonder that every town and city and hamlet 
through all the loyal states are draped in emblems of 
grief! No wonder tliat universal joy, which was 
beginning to burst forth in various forms and expres- 
sions of outward gladness, has been repressed, yield- 
ing to the mightier claims of universal sorrow ! 

Had the event occurred in the usual course of pro- 
vidential dispensation, deep as the mystery might 
18 



138 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

seem, and profoimd as the grief would be, tlie shock 
would uot have been so great, nor the revulsion of 
feeling so abrupt and painful. Had he died as men 
ordinarily die, had we been apprised, day b}- day, of 
the progress of disease working its way, slowly but 
surely, toward the seat of life, we would have become 
nerved for the event, and the dread intelligence he is 
dead, would have been received with comparative 
composure. But no such premonitions prepared us 
for the catastrophe. We had not thought even, tiiat 
such an event was possible. Had the blow been 
struck when ho was in Richmond, it would have been 
scarcely a matter of surprise, for there, we knew him 
to have been surrounded by the bitterest enemies; 
but having returned in safety, we dismissed onr tran- 
sient fears, and yielded to the calmness of wonted 
security. But how soon has the spell been broken I 
How sudden and stunning the event I Euthlessly 
stricken down in the fullness of his strength by the 
bloody hand of the assassin ; at the period too, when 
beginning to realize the rewards of toil, anxiety and 
responsibility without parallel in official experience ; 
when, having reached the point in the national strug- 
gle, from which, as from a lofty eminence, he could 
see the sun of peace and prosperity beginning to gild 
the darkened heavens, and contemplate the ditferent 
states of the Union soon to enjoy undisturbed repose 
— at such a time, in the very capital of the nation, 
surrounded and protected by the most formidable 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 139 

defences, to be made the victim of that foul spirit of 
treason which he had so long and successfully battled, 
is well fitted to strike every heart with horror, and to 
cause the sternest spirits in the land to tremble 
with agitation and fear ! In view of such an event, 
paralleled only by the assassination of Henry IV of 
France, and of the Prince of Orange of Holland, no 
wonder that an entire nation is in tears ! And when 
the millions of the dusky children of the south shall 
have heard that "Father Abraham," the Moses of 
their deliverance from worse than Egyptian bondage, 
has fallen, their mourning will be even more deep 
than ours, it will be "as the mourning of Hadadrim- 
mon in the valley of Megiddon." 

For many of the disappointments and disasters 
which occurred at the commencement, and during the 
progress of the war to the army and the navy ; for the 
conflicting theories and conduct of statesmen which 
perplexed the councils of the nation ; and for the in- 
competency or treachery of military leaders which, at 
times, cast so deep a gloom over the loyal spirit of the 
people, we are able to discover satisfactory reasons. 
They were the necessary conditions in the evolution 
of a divine purpose, by which grand results have been 
wrought out for the permanent benefit of tlie nation. 
The contest was protracted in order to secure univer- 
sal liberty, to mature and intensify the sentiment of 
nationality, and to demonstrate the power of self-gov- 
ernment inherent in the republic, before the nations of 



140 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the earth. All tliis is now obvious to every refleeting 
miiul. But for the violent death of our Chief Magis- 
trate at so important a crisis in our history, we cannot, 
as yet, discover the reason. Tliat some wise design is 
to be answered by it, we do not doubt ; but what it is 
we are unable to comprehend. Clouds and darkness 
enshroud the providential dispensation and it becomes 
us iu Christian faith and sulimission, to bow rever- 
ently before the inscrutable mystery. 

In contemplating the career of Abraham Lincoln, we 
cannot but discover the fostering character of our 
institutions, and the encouragement held out to native 
talent and industry in whatever outward condition 
they may be found. Passing a portion of his earlier 
years in a section of Indiana which was then an almost 
uninhabited wilderness, he acipiircd among the hard- 
ships of frontier life, those habits of self-reliance and 
persistent energy which became the marked attributes 
of his subsequent character. He afterwards resided 
iu the state of Illinois, where, in 183:^, he took an active 
part in the Indian war which so sadly disturbed the 
western portion of the country. At the close of his 
brief military service he engaged in the study of the 
law, and by a natural transition, entered the political 
arena of the state. In 1847 he became a member of 
the congress of the United States, where he acquired 
honorable distinction among his compeers. His power 
as a statesman became more fully known, in 1858, 
when, opposed to Senatoi- Douglas — no mean antago- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 141 

nist — he maintained on equal terms a proti-acted 
struggle, during which he evinced qualities of intellect, 
force of reasoning, comprehensiveness of judgment, 
and al)ility to grasp and master some of the most 
intricate questions of national policy, which attracted 
to him the attention of the nation, and prepared the 
way for his advancement to the high position which 
he so recently and honorably sustained. How humane 
and liow efficient the character of that government, 
which thus takes charge of a child of penury and toil, 
opens the way for his intellectual and moral improve- 
ment, recognizes and fosters his true native worth, 
however rude the outward garb, and places within his 
reach the highest position of honor and trust, within 
the gift of a mighty people ! Such is the genius of 
our institutions. It exercises a paternal care over all 
its children, seeking to qualify each for useful service. 
And how beautifully and forcildy is this feature illus- 
trated in the history of him, for whose death the nation 
this day sits in the dust and refuses to be comforted ! 
A few years since he was a plain man, comparatively 
obscure, and possessing little more than a mere local 
notoriety. But how 1>y the discipline of native pow- 
ers in the conflicts of public life, during which his 
mind was in contact with the profoundest questions 
and principles of national policy, was he prepared, 
when the great occasion demanded it, to loom up and 
become distinguished among the foremost statesmen 
of the world. What a sublime tribute to the charac- 



142 ijxcoi.x ^^E^fORrAL. 

tcr of our institutions I In tliis eountry distinction 
depends not upon contingencies of location or birth. 
The road to eminence is open equally to all, and there 
is no royal avenue to the summit. Here, intellect alone 
is the secret of success, intellect well cultivated and well 
balanced, and directed with persevering energy to the 
accomplishment of noble objects. Every American 
youth may aspire to beconie an American lord, a man 
who depends upon a higher distinction than an heredi- 
tary title, whose name is enrolled in nature's own 
peerage and who carries the patent of his nobility in 
his intellect and his heart. 

Were I to atteniiit an analysis of the character of 
the lamented dead, I would not hesitate to accord to 
him a hiffh measure of intelUdual power. And by this I do 
not assert that he possessed either brilliancy i)f genius 
or extended literary acquirements, or vastness of re- 
search. He was, for the most part, a self-educated 
man, and was indebted to the schools for little more 
than the simplest rudiments of education. With 
natural capacities of a high order, his mind ac(juired, 
amid the struggles of public life, a culture, a vigor 
and a breadth which no institution of learning can 
ordinarily impart. He i>ossesscd, to a surprising de- 
gree, the faculty of penetrating deep into the intrica- 
cies of theories and arguments, detecting both the 
truth and the error that might be either magnified or 
concealed beneath the drapery of rhetoric, or the 
mystifications of false logic. He seems to have had an 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 143 

intuitive insight into the nature and relations of things, 
a ready perception of the bearings of measures and 
policies, and could anticipate results with a sort of 
prophetic foresight. His style was chaste, his words 
were few and well chosen, and his arguments pertinent 
and conclusive. Practical wisdom, or stern common 
sense, which always constitutes the basis of a sound 
judgment and of safe conclusions, was a preeminent 
attribute of his mind. He was patient and deliberate 
in investigating measures and in weighing the argu- 
ments for or against their adoption ; and when he had 
reached a conclusion, it partook of the character of a 
positive unchangeable conviction, which resulted in 
corresponding action. No man ever had greater 
responsibilities resting upon him than he. ISo man 
was ever called to act in circimistances of greater per- 
plexity, surrounded b}' counsellors of conflicting views 
and variant policies, and not certain always who were 
strict!}' loyal, and who were concealed traitors. Yet 
with a calm determination and an unwavering purpose 
he purstted one stead}' course, met every responsi- 
bility, and during the season of the most imminent 
peril, conducted the aftairs of the nation in a manner 
which has elicited the admiration of the purest patriots 
and the wisest statesmen in all parts of the civilized 
world. 

He possessed also a well halanred characicr. And 
here, I know not that I can do better than quote a 
brief passage from a recent writer Avho has pertinently 
expressed my views on this point. 



144 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

" With a uiiaiiiuiity rarely equaled, a people who 
had fought eight A-ear.s against a tax of three pence on 
IJK' pound, and that was rapidly advancing to the 
front rank ol' nations through the victories of peace, — 
a people jealous of its liberties and proud of its pros- 
perity, has reelected to the chief magistracy a man 
under whose administration burdensome taxes have 
l)een levied, immense armies marshaled, imperative 
drafts ordered, and fearful sutfering endured. They 
have done this because, in spite of possible mistakes 
and short-comings, they have seen his grasp ever 
tightening ai'ound the throat of slavery, his weapons 
ever seeking the vital point of the rebellion. They 
have beheld him standing always at his post, calm in 
the midst of peril, hojieful when all was dark, patient 
under every obloquy, courteous to his bitterest foes, 
conciliator}- where conciliation was possible, inflexible 
Avhere to yield was dishonor. Never have the pas- 
sions ot civil war betrayed him into cruelty or hurried 
him into revenge ; nor has any hope of personal bene- 
fit or any fear of personal detriment stayed him when 
occasion beckoned. If he has erred, it has been ou 
the side of leniency. If he has hesitated, it has been 
to assure himself of the right. Where there was cen- 
sure, he claimed it for himself; where there was 
praise, he lavished it upon his subordinates. The 
strong he has braved, and the weak sheltered. He 
has rejected the counsels of Ins iriends when they 
were inspired by partizanship, and adopted the sug- 



LINCOLN MEMOmAL. I45 

gestions of opponents wlien tlic}' were founded on 
wisdom. His ear lias always been open to the people's 
voice, yet lie has never sufi'ered himself to be blindly 
driven by the storm of popular fury. He has consult- 
ed public opinion, as the public servant should ; but 
he has not pandered to public prejudice, as only de- 
magogues do. Not weakly impatient to secure the 
approval of the country', he has not scorned to explain 
his measures to the understanding of common people. 
Never bewildered by the solicitations of party, nor 
terriiied by the menace of opposition, he has controlled 
with moderation, and yielded with dignity, as the exi- 
gencies of the time demanded. Entering upon office 
with the full share of the common incredulity, per- 
ceiving no more than his fellow-citizens the magni- 
tude of the crisis, he has steadily risen to the height 
of the great argument. No suspicion of self-seeking 
stains his fiiir fame ; but ever mindful of his solemn 
oath, he seeks with clean hands and a pure heart the 
welfare of the whole country. Future generations can 
alone do justice to his ability; his integrity is firmly 
established in the convictions of the present age."* 

A just and noble tribute ! 

I add, again, that Abraham Lincoln was evidently 
controlled in his conduct by the high principles of 
morality and religion. The religious element seems 
to have marked his entire official career, and to have 
increased in strength and influence from the day lie 
* Atlantk- MoHtlilij, .January, 1865. 

19 



146 LINCOLN MEMOIUAL. 

left Springfield to assume the presidential cbair to the 
hour when he resigned it, for, as we trust, a nobler 
destiny. None of his official predecessors have so fre- 
quenth- and devoutly acknowledged their dejjendence 
upon the God of nations, or have so earnestly re- 
quested the jiraj-ers of their countrymen, as he. lie 
was a daily reader of the sacred scriptures, and seems 
to have been animated by the true spirit of the gospel. 
By its holy teachings he sought to be governed in all 
his outward relations. And I believe that no one, 
whether friend or foe, has ever questioned his nioml 
honesty. No one has ever insinuated that he sought 
to use the vast power entrusted to him, for purposes 
of avarice or ambition. His integrity was of tlie na- 
ture of a holy, disciplined virtue : it was pure, unselfish 
and loftj\ He was tried in the furnace, but was not 
burned; he breathed the malaria of corruption, in- 
trigue and selfishness, but remained uneontaminated ; 
he dealt with scheming men and heartless dema- 
gogues, who in their country's calamities sought the 
means of their own aggrandizement, but continued 
firm in the strength and simplicity of his uprightness. 
Irritated and insulted at home and abroad, he ren- 
dered just and equal dealings in return, with "malice 
for none, and charity for all." Few can read his last 
Inaugural Address, without being impressed with the 
deep religious tone whicli pervades it, and the simple 
scriptural phi-aseology in which portions of it are ex- 
pressed. It would almost seem as if the shadow of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 147 

his own tragic end had, for a moment, rested on him, 
and as if he were inspired to leave to posterity a docu- 
ment, which the highest Christian statesman might 
covet as the choicest memorial to attest his moral in- 
tegrity and simple piety on the pages of histor3-. 

How consoling the hope we cherish at this hour of 
universal lamentation, when everything around us is 
veiled in emblems of sorrow, when every sanctuary is 
filled with weeping multitudes, and every family is 
stricken with a personal grief, that he, over whose 
tragic fate countless myriads are pouring forth their 
tears, has safely passed to that realm, where toil and 
care can never intrude, and where the traitor's bloody 
hand can never strike him more. 

Such is the man whose career has been so sadly and 
abruptly terminated. Seldom do the robes of death 
gather over a nobler victim ! The public loss is so 
great, and the chasm made in our national councils is 
so marked, that it is by no means surprising that every 
thoughtful mind becomes excited and appalled by the 
contemplation. And yet God, the God of our fathers, 
is the God of their children. Great as is the loss we 
have sustained, still the destiny of the country is not 
bound up in the fate of any one man. And perhaps 
we needed this stern admonition, to fix more deeply 
in our minds the salutary lesson of our absolute de- 
pendence upon the jMost High, and to turn the hearts 
of the people more trustingly to Him. Perhaps also, 
in tlie midst of oui- triumphs, when about fully to 



148 LINCOLN ilKyiOlUAL. 

realize results lor which we hud toiled and prayed 
and waited so long, we were beginning to lose our 
deep abhorrence of the crime of treason, and to cherish 
a weak and culpable clemency toward tlie miscreants 
who with tiend-liko ferocity struck at the nation's life. 
It may have been necessary, therefore, that the nation 
should become aroused by this last demonstration of 
the spirit of reljellion, and should have a more tangi- 
ble proof of its fierce and hellish character. And I 
cannot but think that the event of the President's 
assassination, has gone far toward curing us of a weak 
and criminal leniency toward that spirit which origin- 
ated the l)loody c<_inflict of the last fouryeai's; which 
sought to wrap our cities in the devouring flames ; 
which planned to diffuse the contagion of tlie yellow 
fever ; which refused quarter to our troops at Fort 
Pillow; which deliberately murdered tens of thou- 
sands of our gallant soldiers by heat and cold and 
starvation ; and wliich finally struck at the Ruler of 
the people, expecting that when he fell the govern- 
ment itself would sink into anarchy and ruin. And 
when we contemplate the horrid features of this spirit 
of rebellion, becoming darker and fiercer, and more 
cruel and devilish, through all its successive manifest- 
ations down to the catastrophe of this fearful tragedy, 
shall we hesitate to believe that we are bound, by its 
con<lign punishment, to vindicate the majesty of law, 
and sustain the principles of eternal justice ? And 
while this day, we mourn the untimely fate of our 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 149 

beloved Chief Magistrate, have we not cause for gra- 
titude that God has provided a worthy successor to 
the chair of state. He is one who from the com- 
mencement of the conflict, has stood "faithful among 
the faithless" in his loyalty to the Union. Sufferings 
and losses and deaths have served only to brighten 
and deepen and strengthen his patriotic devotion. 
He knows, by bitter experience, what the spirit of 
treason is ; and I most confidently believe that he has 
been specially raised up, and inspired with adequate 
energy, to grapple with it, and mete out to it the pe- 
nalty which the laws of God and of man have de- 
nounced against it. ]\Iay He, who is Governor among 
the nations, guide and sustain the administration of 
Andrew Johnson ! 

Friends, this country is not destroyed, nor is it des- 
tined to ruin. The calamity which has for successive 
years fallen to our lot and which has just culminated 
in the death of our martyr President, is only purifying 
the national character, intensifying its spirit of 
loyalty, and preparing it for a higher destiny. The 
evil is only incidental and temporarj^ ; and in view of 
the unmistakealile omens of returning peace and pros- 
perity, well may smiles of gladness shine this day 
through our tears of sorrow. We hail the near ap- 
proach of the auspicious hour, which is to witness the 
adjustment of our national difficulties, and the period 
of repose which is to follow, when this fearful conflict 
shall be known only on the records of the distant past ; 



150 J.TXCOLX MEMOniAL. 

and when the ship of state, having safelj- weathered 
every shoal and tempest, shall be seen sailing majes- 
tically in a calm sea, with a law-abiding and exulting 
crew, and the flag of the Union nailed to her 

MAST I 

"Sail on, Union, strong and great ! 
Humanity with all its fears. 
With all the hopes of future years. 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate I 
In spite of rock and tempest's roar. 
In spite of false lights on the shore. 
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ! 
Our hearts, our liopes, our prayers, our tears. 
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears, 
Are all with thee. — are all with thee 1" 

To the memory of the pilot whose strong arm 
guided the laboring vessel through the last four years 
of darkness and storm — during portions of which 
" neither sun nor stars appeared for many days," we 
dedicate this sacred hour. Abraham Lincoln I thy 
work on earth is done, and thy country awards thee 
the verdict, "good and faithful servant!" Thy place 
is secure in the aftectious of a grateful people ! Thy 
name will live untarnished on the records of history-, 
so long as the world shall continue to appreciate de- 
voted patriotism, elevated wisdom, unbending integ- 
rity, and sublime virtue ! Abraham Lincoln I the 
good, the noble, and the true, fare thee well ! 

" Thy grave shall be a hallowed shrine, 

Adorned with nature's brightest wreath ; 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 151 

Each glowing season will combine 

Its incense there to breathe ; 
And oft upon the midnight air, 
Shall viewless harps be murmuring there." 



Sermon Preached in the Liberty Street 
Presbyterian Church (Colored). 

BY KEV. JOSEPH A. PRIME. 

And Sinil also loettt home to Giheah ; and there u-ent with him a band of 
vien, n'hose hearts God had touched. 

But the children of Belial said, how shall this man save us? And they 
despised him, and hrouyht him no presents. But he held his peace. — 1 
Samuel, x, 26, 27. 

The events of the past repeat themselves iu the 
history of the present. "What happened in the days 
of Saul, has taken place iu our own day, only modi- 
fied and varied in some of its circumstances. In the 
case of Saul, we have every reason to believe that he 
was God-appointed, to accomplish a certain work. 
We have equal reason also, to believe that Abraham 
Lincoln was designated by the same divine power, to 
perform a certain service, namely, the redemption of 
the colored race from slavery. 

As in the days of Saul " there went with him a 
band of men, whose hearts God had touched," so in 
our own time, there has been a faithful company 
which has stood by Abraham Lincoln in his struggle 
for right and truth. As in those days there were men 
who asked concerning Saul, "How shall this man 
save us?" and despised him, so have we seen, within 



152 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the past four 3"Cars, multitudes who luivi' queried in 
like nuuiuer as to Abraham Lincoln, and have refused 
to recognize iu him the mau commissioned by (Jod to 
work out Ilis great and divine purpose. 

The occasion for which we have met to-dav, is to do 
houor to our martyred President. A great and good 
man has been murdered by the hand of an assassin ! 
What crime had he committed? What law had he 
violated? Neither crime nor the violation of law 
could be laid to his charge, still he was foully slaught- 
ered. There is nothing new in this. The events of 
all history teach us that the innocent are frequently 
sacrificed by the hands of the guilty. 

From the story of Saul, as narrated in the Scriptures, 
we learn that he was a member of the smallest of the 
tribes of Israel, and his tamily the least of all the 
families of that tribe, yet was he chosen liing. The 
ancestors of Abraham Lincoln were not distinguished 
among men, yet was he made President of the United 
States. Our greatest men whose lives and labors and 
influence have done most to bless the world, have 
but rarelj- been found among those who have been 
rocked in the cradle of ease and sup>plied with 
every luxury. No, the men who carry the welfare 
of a nation in their hearts, and stoop down to 
lift up cruslied and bleeding humanity, are oftener 
reared in humldeness and obscurity. If we look at 
Mr. Lincoln's early history, we shall find that he had 
a rough training, but at tlie same time a training that 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 153 

fitted him for the duties he was called to perform, in- 
asmuch as it made him self-reliant. This preparation 
was not obtained iu the halls of education, but amid 
the plainer and more active business of life, where 
mind and muscle aid each other. In this combined 
strength lies the true element of human greatness. 
Abraham Lincoln, the father and preserver of our 
nation, who lifted up the despised and the degraded 
out of that wretched condition to which pride and 
caste had consigned them, is to be ranked with Wash- 
ington the successful exponent of another holy but 
different mission. 

Slaver}', that cruel system, had not only degraded 
the black man of the south, but had rendered the 
poor whites even more degraded and less hopeful of 
future elevation than the slaves themselves. Just at 
this crisis when the nation was in its greatest peril, 
God sent forth the modern Moses to deliver this peo- 
ple from that curse which was sapping the foundation 
of our public. The southern heart was wedded to 
slavery. Altraham Lincoln saw what constituted the 
strength of the rebellion, and he proclaimed " libert}' 
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them 
that are bound." This act increased the bitter spirit 
of the south, and his overthrow was determined from 
that hour. Li fulfillment of this determination, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, the nation's Chief Magistrate, was 
murdered by the hands of an assassin. Had he been 
a usurper of the place he occupied ; had he exercised 
20 



154 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

his power ill tlu' spirit of tyranny ; had he inflicted 
heavy blows ui)on the innocent; liad he refused to 
listen to the cry for mercj^ there might have been 
mitigating circumstances to lessen the enormity of this 
hellish and (iod forbidden crime. But instead of his 
being guilty of any of these acts, he must be regard- 
ed as cue of the best and purest of men, having the 
most benevolent feelings for the welfare of the entire 
race of mankind, of any of those who have filled the 
presidential chair since our American independence 
was declared. Washington was the Father of our 
country, Lincoln Avas the Father of our nation. 

In some things Abraham Lincoln is to lie regarded 
as superior to Washington. Especially is this so in the 
comprehensive plans he instituted for the happiness of 
the inhabitants of these L^nitod States, irrespective of 
class or condition. He was strictl}- moral, untiring 
in his labors of incorruptible integrity, and free from 
selfishness. He was simple and yet wonderfully firm 
and independent in his manner. He was blessed with 
great intuitive jicreeption of truth. He was sagacious 
and farseeing in his plans, amialjle in disposition and 
meek in temper. Tliese qualities prepared him for 
almost any emer'genc}-. He was truly the friend of 
man. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, 
the learned and the unlearned, could all approach him 
upon a common level and find him ready to hear theii- 
statements, and sympathize with them, and they would 
depart with minds impressed in his favor. He had an 



LINCOLN MEMOniAL. I55 

appropriate word for every man. With an even balance 
he maintained the aftairsof the nation in its life strug- 
gle. As an exponent of American principles, a man 
occupied the seat of power who was incapable of 
being a tyrant, and his virtues commended him to the 
people. Ilis fame has become universal, and I do 
not know but it may be said, that he was the centre 
of observation for all foreign nations and countries. 
He had the sympathy of millions upon millions who 
only judged him by his acts. No deeper gloom ever 
fell upon any people than has talleu upon this nation 
on this occasion. No deeper sorrow ever filled the 
universal heart of the country than that caused by the 
death of our beloved President. The heart of the 
nation has been pierced to its very centre. 

But there is a class who feel this death more keenly 
than all the other classes combined. It is the colored 
people. None mourn or lament more sincerely than 
they. None feel that they have lost so true and tried 
a friend as the millions of bond and freed men of the 
south. He was hailed as their great deliverer. So 
deeply had he taken the cause of the oi^pressed into 
his heart, and so clearly did this fact appear to the 
mind of the slaves, that they declared him their 
savior, sent to set tliem free from the cruel yoke of 
oppression. The rebellion was the direct out-growth 
of slavery, and the murder of the President, is only 
the intensiiied spirit of slavery personified. It was 
slavery that killed our President, and the blood of 



15(3 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the iiuiidcrcd President will cry out against slavery 

as long as there is a bondman to sigh for freedom. 

But pause a moment. Cast your thouglits back to 
the home of our departed President, ou the eve of his 
leaving for Washington. Behold the immense as- 
semblage who have gathered to bid him farewell. 
Well might he look forward witli deep apprehension 
and say, " A duty devolves upon nje which is perhaps 
greater tliau that which has devolved upon any other 
man since the days of Washington." How well he 
understood that duty, how conscientious he was iu 
discharging it, how fully he relied upon that Divine 
assistance without whieh human etfort is vain, all 
know who have traced his career and watched the 
progresss of events. If the American people have 
reason to rejoice in the life and labors of a Washing- 
ton, then the colored people of our country have a 
much greater reason to rejoice that Aliraham Lincoln 
was permitted to occiijiy the executive chair, as Chief 
Ruler of this nation. 

Let the name of Abraham Lincoln ever be dear to 
the colored race, for he, above all other presidents, 
dared to open his mouth for the down-trodden and 
despised. Let his acts, his noble deeds, be stamped 
upon your inmost minds. But you are not alone the 
recipients of these benefits bestowed by this great 
and good man. He was the world's benefactor, 
Heaven's gift to mankind. Li the death he died, he 
has drawn all mankind to behold the deeds he has 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 157 

done. Abraham Liucolu still lives, though murdered 
by the foulest spirit of the lowest pit. Let us pray 
that the mautle of our beloved aud lamented Presi- 
dent may fall upon his successor. And let the 
prayers of all good men ascend to God for the tho- 
rough healing of the nation. Amen and Amen. 

Service at the Jewish Synagogue. 
The synagogue of the Jewish congregation, Anshe 
Chesed, was draped in mourning. A large audience 
assembled, comprising all the Hebrews living in the 
city and a great number of Germans of other denomi- 
nations. After the introductory prayer in Hebrew, 
the Thora (Law scrolls) were unfolded, and the Rev. 
Dr. H. G. Salomon, the Eabbi of the congregation, 
delivered a most solemn sermon, in which he set forth 
the virtues of the late President and directed atten- 
tion to the fact that the whole north, though divided 
in political views, was united in bewailing the loss of 
the Chief Magistrate of the nation and in expressions 
of respect for his character and patriotic conduct. He 
alluded to the law of Judaism, which made it in- 
cumbent upon every one professing that faith to pray 
daily for the welfare of the chieftain of the country, 
and to the eticct produced by this injunction in mak- 
ing Israelites true and loyal citizens. He closed by 
drawing a picture of the desolation and anarchy into 
which the nation would have been plunged if the 
designs of the conspirators had not been checked by 
providence. 



158 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Mr. Frank Ilarlsfeld tlien ascended the pulpit and 
addressed the audience in substance, as follows. Ho 
said tliere was no parallel to be found in history to 
the groat crime over which we mourn, except the as- 
sassination of Henry the Fourth of France, by Ra- 
vaillac. Lincoln ruled at a time when the United 
States were divided by conspiracy and rebellion. 
Henry reigned when France was torn in pieces by 
dissensions. AVheu the foi'mor was inaugurated he 
was obliged to guard his way to Washington, the seat 
of the government. The latter was compelled to 
take Paris by force before he was crowned a king. 
Each was a chieftain who was full of love for his 
country and strove to reconcile contending parties 
and establish peace on a firm and lasting basis. 
Wlien Henr}- was assassinated he was riding in a 
carriage through one of the public streets of Paris 
accompanied by several of his friends, and surrounded 
by gentlemen on horseback and running footmen, 
any of whom would have sacrificed life for him. 
Lincoln was shot while seated in a private box at a 
theatre, in company with a party of friends and sur- 
rounded by hundreds of people who would have 
defended him unto death. So sudden was tlie attack 
oh Henry, that those with him did not perceive the 
state of the case, until he fell forward after the second 
blow was struck. The fearful fate of Lincoln was not 
recognized until after the murderer had escaped. 
Ravaillac was put to the most frightful tortures and 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 159 

was coudemiied to the most horrible death. Booth 
died miserably, but before the decrees of the law 
could overtake him, aud the spot desecrated by his 
foul body is unkuown. Lincoln was acknowledged 
to be a good man, even by his enemies. Henry 
possessed the love of all classes, even of the Jesuits 
who opposed him. It was Henry's wish, often ex- 
pressed, that every peasant in France might have a 
chicken in his pot. Lincoln's regard for the people 
was ever manifesting itself in deeds of mercy and 
love. As France dates its greatness from the time of 
Henry's reign, so will the United States come out of 
the struggle now ending, in which Lincoln's name 
has been preeminent, the first nation of the world. 
Washington's name is identified with our liberty and 
independence. The name of Lincoln will be identi- 
fied with our nationality and greatness. 

At the close of this address,- prayers were read in 
Hebrew, for the immortal part of the dead. A trans- 
lation of these prayers follows. The prayers by the 
mourner, were read by the Rabbi. 

Mijurncr. O Lord our God, King of the universe, 
who art merciful and gracious to the living, be mer- 
ciful and gracious to the soul of thy servant Abraham 
Lincoln, who has been called from this world to appear 
before the throne of thy holiness. Kemember him 
with a good memorial before thee. Visit him with the 
visitation of salvation and mercy. Let him dwell 
amongst those just aud pious who dwell in the secret 



160 LINCOLN MEMOUIAL. 

place of thy holiness and abide under the sliadow ot 
thy glory. Have compassion upon him and insjioct 
. him with thy henevolcnt goodness. Return unto him 
with the multitude of thy mercy for the sake of the 
Just who performed thy will. Be gracious to him, 
guard him with thy endless kindness, and grant him 
immortality. 

Congregation. Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God I 
King of the Universe, who art a judge. 

Blessed art thou, Lord, our God ! King of the 
Universe, who createst in justice, maintainest in jus 
tice, slayest in justice, and hringest again into life in 
justice. Blessed art thou, ]jord, who revivest the 
dead. 

Mourner. Thou art righteous to slay and to revive, 
thou in whose haud is the custody of all spirits ; 
blessed be then the righteous .lodge who slayi'th and 
reviveth. 

Congregation. We know, Lord, that thy judg- 
ment is righteous ; thou art righteous when thou 
speakest, justified when thou judgest, and no one can 
find fault with thy manner of judging; for thou art 
righteous and thy judgment is just. The Lord gave 
and the Lord hath taken ; blessed be the name of the 
Lord. 

Other Services. 

At the First Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. George C. 
Baldwin, the pastor, spoke in eulogistic terms of the 
deceased President, and took occasion to draw the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 161 

parallel between tlie lessons taught by this event and 
the lessons taught by somewhat similar events in the 
scriptures. 

The Rev. Dr. E. Wentworth, in his discourse, at 
the State Street Methodist Episcopal Church, reminded 
his hearers that no cup of the Divine providence is 
unmixed, that good and evil travel hand in hand. 
"The death of Abraham Lincoln" said he, "resulted 
from the death struggle, the expiring desperation of 
rebellion, slavery and secession. We rejoice at the 
destruction of these heresies, as much as we mourn 
for the loss of our revered head. But slavery dies 
even if it throttles the Chief Magistrate with its last 
convulsive clutch." An address was also made on 
this occasion by the Eev. S. Parks. 

In his sermon at the First Presbyterian Church, the 
pastor, Rev. Marvin R. Vincent reminded his congre- 
gation that neither men nor communities must fix 
their faith upon any one man, but remember that it 
is God who preserves nations. He expressed the 
hope, that coming as this death came, at an hour when 
the President was winning almost universal favor, the 
event might serve as a lessson to recall us to our sole 
source of dependence — our dependence on God. 

In the Roman Catholic Churches the occasion was 
solemnly observed. 

At St. Mary's Church, the services conducted by 
Rev. Peter Havermans were similar to those on Holy 
Saturda}^ and the prayers pro quncunque tribidadone, 
" 21 



162 LIXCOLK MEMOJiTAL. 

prescribed by tlie rubrics for ])Tiblic calamities were 
read in addition to the usual collects of tlie day. 
These prayers arc as follows : 

"Despise not Almit^bty God, thy jjcoplc crying to 
thee iu alfliction : but for the glory of thy name come 
to their succour." 

"Receive mercifully O Lord the sacriticcs by whi(,'h 
it hath pleased thee to be reconciled, and by thy 
powerful goodness, to have restored safety to us." 

"Look down mercifullj-, we beseech thee O Lord, 
upon our tribulation, and turn away the anger of thy 
indignation which we have so justly deserved, through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, who liveth and reign- 
eth with thee, for ever and ever. Amen." 

At the end of the high mass, the psalm Miserere was 
chanted, supplicating God's merc\- njion the congrega- 
tion and upon all people. 

The service at St. Peter's Church consisted of 
solemn and plaintive chants h\ the choir, and jiublic 
prayers and litanies by the pastor, the Rev. James 
Keveuy, for the safety and triumph of our beloved 
country and the defeat and confusion of its enemies. 
Appropriate remarks were also made l)y the pastor, 
sympathizing with our nation in this the hour of her 
trial and sad bereavement, but expressing sentiments 
of encouragement also, at the prospect of a bright and 
glorious future. 

The services at St. Joseph's Church were as follows : 
"The altars were draped in black. A catafalque was 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 163 

placed opposite the luain altar in the centre aisle. 
Everything in the cliureh bespoke mourning and sor- 
row, as befitted the solemn occasion. The bell tolled, 
and the people assembled in the church to assist at a 
service which the fell stroke of the assassin's hand 
made imperative. The pastor, the Rev. Aug. J. The- 
baud, delivered a lengthy discourse to his sorrowing 
dock. He spoke of the enormity of the crime of mur- 
der, wliich was much aggravated when committed 
against a man invested with the highest authority in 
the land. He said the crime had been such, as to 
make it incumbent on all to endeavor to appease the 
wrath of God, and to supplicate Him to spare the peo- 
ple. Catholics especially should mourn on this occa- 
sion, because in losing Mr. Lincoln, they had lost a 
sincere friend and a true lover of civil and religious 
liberty : they should mourn, because murder is a 
crime crying to heaven for vengeance. Gratitude 
likewise called upon the Catholics to give expression 
to their sorrow, for, through the magnanimity of the 
people, and through the wisdom and enlightenment 
of their chief magistrates, the Catholic church has 
been always free in her action in America. 

"When the pastor had ended his discourse, the 
church choir chanted in solemn and mournful notes, 
the psalm Miserere. At its conclusion, the Eev. Father 
Thebaud read aloud, prayers for the President, for 
congress, for the state legislature, and lastly for the 
peace, happiness and prosperity of the country. 



1(J4 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Wlifii soivu-e lual been concluded, the people left the 
church, dee})Iy impressed with what thcv had heard, 
and more fully persuaded of the loss they and the 
country at large had sustained in the death of the 
lamented President." 

No service was held at St. John's Episcopal Church, 
the rector being absent at the bedside of a wounded 
brother, and at another church the service was 
postponed to the day following. With these excep- 
tions, it is believed that impressive exercises were held 
in every place of worship in the city. These exercises 
were similar in their main features, consisting of 
prayer, hymns, solemn music, scripture lessons and 
addresses or sermons suited to the occasion. The 
black draperies which covered the pulpit and the desk 
and the altar, which swung festooned about the gal- 
leries, or hung in volumnious masses from the ceiling, 
or twined in spiral bands around the columns, or flowed 
over the facade of the organ, added to the impressive- 
ness of tlie scene and the solemnity of tlie worship. 

The observance of the day was quiet, but heartfelt 
and earnest. The solemn tolling of the numerous 
bells-of the city broke out upon the stillness in saddest 
harmony with human feeling and human thought. 
Emblems of mourning, flags bordered with black. 
crape from the small fragment placed by the hand of 
love on the poor man"s cottage to the heavy folds 
draping in dark masses the dwelling of his richer 
neighbor, gave an appearance to the city never before 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 165 

witnessed. Sentences taken from the loved President's 
last inaugural address, shields, stars, tahlets inscribed 
with words of patriotism or religion, pictures of the 
great departed — these were some of the devices that 
appeared on buildings both public and private. 

All shops and warehouses and offices, the schools 
and courts, places of business and amusement all wei-e 
closed. There was no military or other parade, and 
the citizens who walked in groups through the streets 
appeared like the separated detachments of a grand 
company of mourners. Never before was there wit- 
nessed such a spontaneous expression of the grief of 
the nation's heart, as on this solemn occasion. 
The day with its ceremonies, its humiliation, its reli- 
gious feeling will pass down on the page of history as 
a fitting memorial of the love of the people for one 
whom they respected for his noble character and 
devoted patriotism while living, and embalmed with 
their prayers and tears when dead. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 20TH, 1865. 

This day, which prior to the assassination of the 
President had been designated by the governor of the 
state as a day of thanksgiving for national victories, 
and which by a subsequent proclamation* had been 
set apart to services appropriate to a season of na- 
tional bereavement, was not as generally observed 
* This proclamation is printed at pages 28 and 39. 



166 LIXCOLN MEMOHTAL 

in the mauiier designed, as it wovild Ikivi- bt-ou luid 
not Ur' services of the day previous anticipated its 
character and solernuities. Places of business, how- 
ever, were generally closed, and emblems of mourn- 
ing were apparent on buildings both public and 
private. 

At the United Presbyterian Church, the occasion 
was solemnized as cue of humiliation, praise and 
prayer. After the reading of the forty-fourth Psalm, 
the past(u-, the Rev. H. P. McAdam, preached a 
sermon, taking as his text the first verse of the one 
hundred and first Psalm, "I will sing of mercy and 
judgment." 

A service similar in character was conducted by the 
Rev. D. S. Gregory, at the Second Presbyterian 
Church, and in several other churclies the day was 
solemnized by acts of worship. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 21ST, 1865. 

Resolutions of the Board of Supervisors of 
Rensselaer County. 

A special meeting of the Board of Su[)ervisors was 
held on .Friday, April 21st, 1865, for the purpose of 
signing tax-warrants. Previous to adjourning. Gen. 
Martin Miller ottered the following resolutions, 
which were adopted. 

Whereaa, We are all aware of the murder of Abra- 
liam Lincoln, Chief Magistrate of the United States, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 167 

and of the attempted assassination of AVm. H. Sew- 
ard, Secretary of State. And 

Whereas, It becomes us as a public body to give ex- 
pression to tliose sentiments of sorrow and profound 
regret which till the heart of each individual of this 
community. Therefore, be it 

Resolved, That by this unmitigated and unparalleled 
atrocity our nation is called upon to mourn the un- 
timely end of one in wliom were centered the highest 
hopes of an anxious and expectant people, one who 
gave bright promise through his meritorious, wise 
and liberal action to bring to a speedy termination 
those difficulties which have agitated tliis great and 
powerful nation for the past four years. But He who 
controlleth the destinies of all, willed it otherwise, 
before whom let us bow with meek submission, 
knowing that this event has been permitted I'or some 
wise purpose as yet unintelligible to man. 

Eesolved, That instead of accomplishing the fell 
purpose at which the instigators and perpetrators of 
this foul and damnable deed aimed, they have opened 
the eyes of those who might otherwise have remained 
olind to the interests and welfare of our beloved 
country, strengthened the hands of those who to-day 
are defending its cause and consigned themselves to 
an inglorious and infamous end. 

jResolced, That the foregoing preambles and resolu- 
tions be spread upon the journal of this board, and 
published in the papers of the county. 



168 imCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Ou motion, tlie Board resolved to attend the obse- 
quies of President Lincoln when his remains should 
pass through Albany, and a committee was appointed 
to make the necessary arrangements for such attend- 
ance. The Board adjourned to meet on the morning 
of the 2Gth inst, at nine o'clock, at the Court House. 
Hiram D. Hull, Chairman. 

T. S. Banker, Clerk. 

SATURDAY, APKH. 22D, 1865. 
"Sic Semper Tyeannis." 

BY E. H. G. CLARK. 

" Sic semper ti/ninnis," vile southron ? 

You murdered your own truest friend ! 
And may God now have pity for traitors — 

Man's patience has come to an end ! 

" Sic semper fyrunnis" madman ? 

He marshalled to freedom a race ! 
He led us to battle with tyrants; 
To dare look the right in the face ! 

" Sic semper tyrannis," assassin ? 
Behold a whole nation in black .' 
And hark to the curse of its millions 
That rumbles along your track I 

" Sic semper tyrannis," — Heaven I 

That motto for slavery's knife ; 
While died the great servant of freedom. 
As martyrdom sainted his life 1 



LINCOLN MEMOSLiL. IQQ 

" Sic semper ti/rannis" — God help us 

To bear it — the deed and the loss ; 

The crime that has scarcely been mated 

Since Jesus was nailed to the cross ! 

" Sic semper ti/rmmis" — Our Father 

In Heaven, we swear unto Thee, 
Once more over him thou hast taken, 
All men shall be equally free ! 

Trot/ DuUy Times. 



Abraham Lincoln. 

BY JULIA ADELAIDE BCRDICK. 

" Himi/ be the heavens with black." 

Bring the ceuser and shake it gently, bring the bell 
and toll it solemnly, bring the psalm and chant it 
mournfully. Bring the flag and lower it, bring the 
drum and muffle it, bring the fife, the bugle and the 
instruments all, and pour out a requiem over him who 
has fallen in the morning of his glory. 

Our foes are flying, but our chieftain has fallen. It 
is a shame not to rejoice when victory perches upon 
our banners, but it is a sin not to weep when our 
standard bearer is slain. It is base not to greet with 
acclamations the living who lived to witness their tri- 
umphs, but it is cruel not to mourn the dead who died 
in sight of what they died for. It is right to sing 
and shout in honor of those who have passed the 
furnace without the smell of fire on their garments 
22 



170 LlXCOiy MEMORIAL. 

but it is no less just to sigh and carry cypress in me- 
mory of those whom the flames consumed. 

In the entrenchments, along the banks of the James, 
on the liekl before Richmond our heroes have fallen, 
while bullets whistled, blood gushed, hearts broke, 
the heavens blackened, and the earth shook with tlie 
wrestle of mad armies thundering and clashing to- 
gether in deadly combat. Xot a hero suft'ered there 
for naught, not a precious breath fluttered out from 
its frail tenement in vain, for thus were our great but 
costly victories won. But he, the pride, the hope, 
and the glory of the nation ; in the midst of an assem- 
bly radiant with beauty, glorious in intellect, and full- 
hearted with happiness, without a)i instant's warning, 
saw the unstable earth melt and vanish away, and the 
golden portals of eternity open before the dissolving 
pageantry of life. "With laurels nobly won yet green 
on his brow, at a moment when the angel of peace 
was spreading her white wings over the land, and it 
seemed that the last victim liad been sacrificed on the 
altar of liberty, God in his infinite wisdom saw fit to 
remove from among us, him who for four weary years 
of war and desolation had been our buckler and our 
shield, our fortress and our strong defence. 

Alas that I can saj' nothing of Abraham Lincoln, 
which will not be far better said many times, ere the 
shudder of this sad calamity will have passed from 
our hearts 1 But it is no less a blessed privilege to me 
than to others, to be permitted to ofter my simple tri- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 171 

bute of love iiiul sorrow to tlie memory of departed 
greatness ; ami while the auguish of my soul refuses 
to be allayed in silence, it would be hard indeed, were 
I forced to crush back the rising tears, or repress the 
lamentatious crowding to my lips. Who that loves 
his country, but will weep in this, her hour of deep 
distress? What heart so insensible to the claims of 
Linatfeeted greatness, or so unmoved liy the example 
of a patriotism so exalted as his, that it will refuse to 
mourn that a cruel and violent death has taken from 
the nation he served so faithfully, the greatest and 
best man of tlie age ? 

Never within the memor}^ of living man has a 
President been so loved. Despite the ridicule of little 
minds, in the face of every injurious device that 
malignity could conceive, and tried by every test 
that constant, harrassing hatred could invent or 
apply, surroiinded by enemies at home, and men- 
aced by foes from abroad, he conquered every pre- 
judice, surmounted every obstacle and enshrined 
himself in the very hearts of the people. The respect 
he won the first year became admiration the second, 
warmed into confidence the third, and finally culmi- 
. nated in something almost sinfully allied to adoration 
the fourth and last. iSTot only did he compel those 
who thought ill of him to think well, and those who 
thought well to think better ; but, in many a notable 
instance, his bitterest opponents he converted into 
staunch supporters. Every candid mind acknow- 



172 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

le(li>'e(l his worth, every lo^'iil tongue spoke his praise. 
lie lived to see the dav (hiwii when the wisdom of the 
eourse he had unwaveringly pursued was heconiiug 
apparent to the workl ; liut it is reserved for tiie light 
of the future to illuminate the mighty intelleet which 
was just beginning to make its latent strength felt 
when its great plans were suddenly arrested, and its 
giant working stilled forever. 

It is no discredit to his memory to say that four 
years ago many an anxious heart trembled for the 
strength of the untried arm that was to pilot the ship 
of state in her perilous course against the head winds 
already whistling through her canvass, and over the 
breakers even then angrily hurling themselves athwart 
her pathway. The farmer boy, the rail splitter, the 
flat boatman, the humble western lawyer, would he 
stand uuatirighted when the shock of war should 
come and he should know not friend from foe, and his 
enemies should be they of his own household ? How 
needless were our fears I Of just such rugged mate- 
rial are heroes made. "When the storm burst in all 
its fury, when the heavens hurled their doom in 
thunderbolts and lightning flashes, which fell, not 
harmless, as thousands of known and unknown 
graves and the countless host of broken lives and 
mourning hearthstones will attest, but impotent to 
work the evil they sought, he for whom our fears 
were marshalled in dread array stood undaunted amid 
the smoking ruins. Fi'om that hour to this, our trust 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 173 

has never for a single moment faltered nor sought any 
other source of support. 

How wise and conciliatory were the offers of par- 
don he tendered to the rebellious states during the 
first year of the war, yet how firmly again and again 
was the determination repeated to forcibly subdue 
them if they would not peacefully return to their al- 
legiance. The hand held out to the penitent 
proffered the gentle clasp of a friend, but the finger 
tightening around the heart of the traitor had the 
hardness of steel. Futile was each generous appeal, 
and futile he doubtless felt they would be, but they 
were the fitting expressions of that thoughtful care for 
friends, and boundless magnanimity to foes, which 
would have provided for the safety of the loyal by the 
same humane measure which would instigate the 
punishment of the disloyal. It was this broad hu- 
manity more than anything else except the purity of 
his motives, and the rare simplicity of his nature, 
which endeared him to the hearts of his countrymen. 
The same clemency that marked the first acts of his 
official life characterized them until the day of his 
death. Even when the fatal bullet was being made 
ready for its unconscious victim, his noble heart was 
busy planning and providing for the future welfare of 
his enemies. Even when the brutal plot that termi- 
nated his existence was in process of completion, he 
was seeking the guidance of heaven, and the assist- 
ance of the best counsels of the nation to enable him 



174 LINCOLN MEMOIUAL. 

to deci(l(.' Ijow tar consistently ■with liis duty as the 
dispenser of rigliteoiis punishmout, lie covild exercise 
the power of restoring to their olden privileges the 
misguided foes of the country their madness so nearly 
destroyed. 

Oh, when shall we see his like again 'i There has 
no good thing ever been spoken of any man living or 
dead which may not truly be said of him. What if 
the casket were plain and unpolished ? The jewel it 
enclosed was as pure as the Mountain of Light. 
Firm, yet gentle; severe, yet just; inflexible in the 
right, yet never obstiiuite in the wrong; pure minded, 
iinselfish; grateful to his friends; magnanimous to 
his foes ; true to himself and true to his country; so 
might we go on enumerating his virtues, and still leave 
some grace of spirit unmentioned though the cata- 
logue were never so long. "Honest Abe," homely 
though the title may be, there was never a truer one 
bestowed upon man, or one more surely destined to 
immortality. When they who have siioken ill of him 
are the dust of the earth ; when his maligners are 
mouldering in their forgotten graves ; when oblivion 
rests upon the memory of those who heaped sorrow 
upon his head ; when they who wrought his destruc- 
tion are remembered only with loathing, and their 
names uttered witli a shudder, then side by side with 
that of George Washington will the unsullied name 
of Abraham Lincoln be written, and while the one 
remains the great and good Father of his Country, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. I75 

the other will bear the no less illustrious title of the 
Saviour of his Couutry. 

How is our joy turned into mourning ! The bells 
that have been ringing the notes of gladness, are 
clanging in consonance with the unutterable woe that 
fills every heart. The flags that have been flaunting 
the glorious tidings of victory, are draped with the 
gloomy emblems of mourning. All, all is sorrow and 
gloom. Bring the censer and shake it gently, bring 
the bell and toll it solemnly, bring the psalm and 
chant it mournfully. Bring the flag and lower it, 
bring the di'uni and mnflie it, bring the fife, the bugle 
and the instruments all, and pour out a requiem over 
the noblest victim ever sacrificed to appease fiendish 
hate. — 2?'0j/ Daily Times. 

A Dirge for Wednesday, April 19, 1865. 

BY A. S. I'K.VSE. 

Toll! toll! the solemn bell! 
And as the dirges swell 

On the sad air, 
Let every voice be dumb. 
Let every heart be still ; 
Let every bosom thrill 

Only with prayer. 

Great God of Liberty ! 
Humbly we pray to Thee : 

Hear us to-day : 
Save Thou our native land. 
Save by Thy mighty power. 
Cheer us. In this dark hour, 

Turn not away. 



176 LIXCOLN MEMOniAL. 

Drape every heart in grief, 
Sad that our Nation's chief, 

Loved and revered, 
Dead from the Capitol, 
Goes to his silent rest, 
By all the people blest, 

Solemnly bier'd. 

Muffle the rousing drum ; 
Stifle the busy hum 

Of daily strife. 
Keep down the bitter thought. 
Out of this fearful grief 
(God give our hopes relief,) 

Get we new life. 

High let our eagle soar ; 
Loud let the cannon roar. 

No more to cease. 
Shrill blow the bugle blast. 
Plain in the air are heard, 
By every leaf that's stirred, 

Whispers of peace. 

Great God of Liberty ! 
God of Prosperity ! 

Hear us, we pray : 
Spare us our life and laws. 
Empty all hearts of hate ; 
All of War's ills abate. 

Bless us to-day. 

Ttoij Daily Press. 



During the afternoon of this day, the Hon. Uri 
Gilbert, Maj-or of the city, received the followiuo- note. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. Ill 

Albany, April 22. 

To the Mayor of Troy : 

The common council committee of tins city, having 
in charge the arrangements for the obsequies of the 
late President Lincoln, on Wednesday next, have 
directed that an invitation be extended to your muni- 
cipal autliorities, and through j-ou, to the various 
military and fire companies, and also the civic and 
religious associations of your city, to unite in the cere- 
monies. You will please communicate your intention 
to John Tracey, chairman of the committee. 

J. C. CuYLER, Secretaiy. 

The mayor caused this note to be published soon 
after its reception, and announced generally to those 
named in it, the invitation it contained. He also noti- 
fied a meeting of the common council, to be held on 
the Monday next following. 

Order of the N"ational Guard. 

Head Qrs., 24th Regt., N. Y. S. N. G., ") 
Troy, N. Y., April 22a?, 1865. | 

General Order No. 12. 

The regiment will parade on Wednesday, the 26th 
inst., for the purpose of participating in the obsequies 
of the late lamented President of the United States. 

Commandants of companies will report with their 
commands at their armories, fully uniformed and 
equipped, at 8 o'clock a. m. of that day. Field and 



178 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

.stuff will report at the colonel's quarters at the same 
hour. The regimental band, Capt. Coring, and the 
drum corps. Drum Major Perkins, will report to the 
Adjutant, at the hour before mentioned. Command- 
ants of companies will be notified by the Adjutant on 
the morning of the parade as to the the formation 
of the line. Quartermaster Church will provide the 
transportation. 

The regimental battery will accompany the parade. 
Cajjt. Landon, commanding A Co., Avill make such 
arrangements as may be necessary. 

Commandants of armories will cause the colors 
to be displayed at half-staff at 8 o'clock a. m. on the 
2Gth inst., and to remain at lialf-statt' till their com- 
mands return to their quarters. 

The attention of officers is again called to General 
Order No. 10. By order. 

Isaac McConiiie Jr., 

GuRDON G. Moore, Adj. Col. Com. 



SUNDAY, APRIL 23D, 1865. 

In Memoriam 

QV. £. 

BY B. II. HALL. 

Strong in the strength of common sense : 
Fettered by naught but right's own rules; 
With wisdom blessed above the schools, 

And void of sham and false pretence ; 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 179 

Finding in every human face 

Some image of the source of all, 

Hearing in every bondman's call 
The suppliance of a common race ; — 

Thus armed, in blackest hour of hate, 

Obedient to a people's voice 

And sacred by a people's choice, 
He came to guard and save the state. 

He waited, suffering long the rage 

That strove the nation's heart to pierce. 
And watched, till treason's madness fierce 

At Sumter cast the rebel gage. 

Then to his summons forth there came 

Brave Northern men with hurrying tread, 
Fired with a vengeance grand and dread, 

To vindicate the nation's fame. 

They left the busy marts of trade, 
They left the anvil and the plough. 
And their sweet lives, with solemn vow. 

On their dear country's altar laid. 

Then through long years of deadliest strife — 
Our banner trodden in the dust — 
Lincoln, with simple, childlike trust. 

Stood firm to save the nation's life. 

He never yielded hope nor heart. 

Pierced with the shaft of bitter hate. 

He chose with kindest souL to wait, 
And hide the venom of the dart. 

He could not sink to motives base. 
Nor seek a good by doubtful ends ; 



180 LINCOLN MEMOnrAL. 

But weighed the counsel of his friends, 
And looked above for light and grace. 

Then Truth revealed her godlike form. 
And Slavery fell, no more to rise, 
Crushed by the fiat of the skies, 

Dying amid the battle storm. 

Man, bound in gyves of grief and jJain 
For crime of color or of birth. 
Rose from the common mother earth, 

Freed from the dark, inhuman stain. 

Out from unnumbered voices poured 
The anthem sweet of freedom's song. 
Of right triumphant over wrong, 

From man redeemed to God adored. 

Then one by one the strongholds fell 
Where treason long had held her seat, 
While he. so calm amid defeat. 

In triumph, checked the exultant swell. 

Thus victory came to be our friend, 
And hope inspired the longing view 
With vision of a heavenly hue — 

The omen of a peaceful end. 

Then sped that midnight messao-e dread 
Borne madly on the electric wire. 
Burning its way on wings of fire, 

That he who loved us all was dead. 

On that black day that saw thee slain 
Oh Christ! that sinful man might live. 
That noble .soul which thou did'stgive 

Passed from a murdered body's pain I 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 181 

On that white day, when to the sun 
Again from Sumter's ruins rose 
Our country's flag, by fiercest foes 

This deed of danwiing guilt was done! 

('rowned with a never ending fame, 

Encircled by a nation's love, 

A martyr here, a saint above, 
Be every honor done his name. 

Oh God ! a nation prostrate lies. 
And supplicates Thy favoring care : 
Blake answer to its wrestling prayer, 

And bid it in Thy strength arise. 

Then shall these brooding clouds of night, 
That cast their shadow o'er our way. 
Dissolve before the brightening day, 
And leave us in Thy blessed light. 

Troy JVeivs. 
April 1(1. 186.5. 

Sermon Preached in the First Presbyterian Church. 

BV llEV. MARVIN R. VINCENT. 

Knot" ye not that there is a prince and a great man ftillen this day in 
Israel? — 2 Samuei., iii, 38. 

The events of history are often like figures in relief. 
We see but cue side of them, that which the artist 
chooses to represent. But this is not an universal 
truth. Some events have a dramatic interest inherent 
in them. They are independent of the artist. Though, 
like the sculptor who would hew Mount Athos into 
the figure of a recumbent giant, the liistorian may 
mould and drape and soften the lines, yet as the 



182 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

mountaiu, spite of the sculptor's work, would have 
been a mouutain still, so such events stand out from 
their age, bearing their own character and speaking 
for themselves under all the misrepresentations of 
history. They convey their own great lesson. They 
resolutely strip from themselves all palliations. 

Concurrent events, moreover, have often much to 
do with the sharpness with which these historic eras 
or incidents are cut. Often the accumulated senti- 
ment and action of a whole cycle concentrate and 
find expression in a single event which lienccforth 
becomes typical of the cycle. Often the condensed 
power of a century is behind a word or a blow. 
Often, too, contemporary events are so disposed as to 
heighten to the utmost the effect of a single deed, and 
to form a background against which its lines come 
out with preternatural sharpness. 

If these characteristics ever united in any event, 
they do so in tliat which l»-ings us here to-day. Death 
is not a new event. Death in high places is not a 
strange thiiig, even to us who, twice before this, have 
been called to mourn over the nation's chief magis- 
trate. Even death under such circumstances is not 
unheard of nor uncommon. Not to us alone attaches 
the stigma of a murdered ruler. But this event is 
nevertheless instinct with a horror and with a signifi- 
cance independent of our nearness to it, and our 
practical connection with it. It concentrates in itself 
the elements of one fearful phase of our national life. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 183 

It is its natural offshoot, its pet child, its crowning 
development of horror, its grand expression before 
the civilized world. And, at the same time, concur- 
rent circumstances are such as to define its lines more 
sharply. In many instances, as I have already said, 
even the assassination of a man in poAver does not 
impress us like this event. In so many instances the 
man owes his consequence only to his position. So 
much coloring is given to the deed by his tyranny or 
inefficiency. So many conflicting interests, whose 
claims history gives us no means of estimating, have 
been eddying round him, and the moral basis of the 
age has been so rotten and wavering, the moral senti- 
ment of the age so perverted, that that event seems 
but in harmony with surrounding events. But here it 
is otherwise. The nation since its rise, and more rapidly 
within the last four years, has been developing a 
process of grouping. On one side of the line have 
been ranging themselves order, the government of 
reason and not of passion, fair and open discussion, 
patriotism, loyalty, devotion to the morals rather than 
to the politics of government. As an exponent of 
these principles, a man occupied the seat of power 
who could not, if he would, have been a tyrant, and 
who would not if he could ; a man whose virtues 
commended themselves to the people, whose policy 
commanded their confidence and their endorsement. 
Breaking sharply off from such sentiments appeared 
another group, representing treason, disloyalty, im- 
24 



184 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

patieuce of control, passion, disregard of the princi- 
ple of majority rule, oppression of the weak, deeper 
degradation of the degraded, its principles represented 
by factious demagogues who would rather " rule iu 
hell than serve in heaven." No distinction was ever 
clearer. Ever diverging more and more, these two 
developments have gone on since the foundation of 
the republic, until at last the distinction has culminated. 
The one side has exhausted its venom in this crowning 
atrocity, and placed it in such startling relief against 
the virtues of the victim and tlie great or(ler-lo\-ing, 
liberty-loving, rebellion-hating, humanity-cherishing 
sentiment of the nation, as henceforth to stamp the 
act and that of which it was the product with a 
character which no future historian will dure to palli- 
ate, and to insure to them a detestation the bitterness 
of which shall be intensified with every succeeding 
generation. God has forestalled the judgment of 
history, and on this act, at least, its decision shall be 
unanimous. 

There then stands the fact in its terrific proportions. 
Abraham Lincoht, President of the United .States, has 
been foully murdered by an assassin. Truly the mur- 
derer must have well studied the eflect of contrasts. 
Had the deed been done when, as it is said, it was 
first contemjilated, it might have harmonized some- 
what better with the confusion which swayed the 
popular mind, with the anxiety respecting the still 
unfinished conflict, and the still menacing rebellion. 



LINCOLN 3TEM0BLiL. 185 

But this had passed. Victory had perched upon the 
banners of our brave generals. The routed army of 
the confederacy had laid down its arms. The pseudo 
president had abandoned his capital and fled, none 
knew wliithcr. The land was gay with waving ban- 
ners and vocal with the thunder of cannon and the 
pealing of bells ; and the President, a man of the 
people, was rejoicing with the people. For the mo- 
ment 

" Grim visageil war had smoothed his wriuliled front." 

For a moment the nation that had sailed so long under 
the gloomy, bristling headlands of war, had caught 
a glimpse of a calm, open bay, with the sun of peace 
shining down on its green encircling hills. And for 
an hour the man whose shoulders had borne, for over 
four years, the heaviest burden ever placed upon any 
ruler, the man whose unceasing vigilance had been in 
demand to guide the vessel of state through such 
tortuous channels and around such reefs as never 
threatened nation before, for an hour he had laid aside 
the cares of state : for an hour he had said " Good 
bye to pain and care:" for an hour he had forgotten 
the nation's burden and given himself up to the cur- 
rent of the nation's joy. And in that hour of grateful 
relaxation the blow fell. The assassin, inspired with 
hellish daring, threw his life upon the issue, and to-day 
the nation mourns his success. 

I will not dwell upon the horrible fact. It is my 



186 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

duty to-day to gather up its lessons as fiir as may be ; 
aud I go back now to my introductory thought, that 
some of the deeds of history are the concentrated 
expression of a long train of previous events, giving 
in their expression a typical character to the whole. 
It were easy enough to cite illustrations, did time 
permit ; yet it is unnecessary with such an illustra- 
tion before our eyes. To repeat once more what I 
have already said from this place, I go back of the 
deed and of its perpetrator. I remind you only of the 
words of the assassin as he leaped to the floor — •' <SVc 
semper tjiranms. Virf/inia is nrem/ed" — as showing 
that the fatal blow was struck in the spirit of hatred 
to constituted authority, in the spirit of devotion to 
that pestilent heresy of state sovereignty, in the in- 
terest of rebellion. The reliellion was the direct 
outgrowth of slavery, and the assassination of the 
President is the grand consummate expression of the 
sjririt of slarety. This is not the first time it has 
struck from behind. It is full of the instinct of its 
own meanness. It knows it is a vile thing, a sus- 
pected thing, a dangerous, false and cruel thing, and 
it would fain call itself by other names, and make its 
way under a mask. But thank God its name is 
written, and to-day it stands baptized in the name of 
the devil and all his angels as the spirit of assassination 
and murder. 

For, look you calmly at this thing. I ask the most 
strenuous advocate of slavery, if there be one left, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 187 

whether, in reason, we could expect auy other de- 
velopment? Go back to the fundamental principle 
of this institution which enables a man to own an- 
other, and tell nie if that is a safe right to entrust to 
any man. Tell me if the testimony of history is not 
uniform on this point? Tell me if the principle 
which permits one man to regard another as a chattel 
is not destructive in the end of respect for all human 
right, even the inalienable right of life ? You may 
put restriction, upon a master, forbidding him to kill 
his slave; but the spirit which thinks nothing of whip- 
ping a man or degrading a woman, will only be 
restrained by policy or penalty or want of opportu- 
nity from going further. The moment you admit in 
any case the absolute right of one man over another's 
person or property or familj-, that moment you re- 
move the question from its only substantiid basis, 
and put it upon varying circumstances, such as dis- 
tinctions of social position or color. Be what you 
are to-day, mentally and morally, only black, and the 
planter will sell you, or whip you, or degrade you as 
readily as he would the African fresh from the Guinea 
coast. The man who is taught that he is at liberty 
to disregard any right of another, is in a fair way to 
disregard all. It is dangerous to set such a principle 
in motion. You cannot stop it where or when you 
will. It laughs at statutes. It is like the demons in 
the old story, which were called to draw water by one 
who knew the spell to set them at work, but had 



188 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

forgotten liow to l:iy them again ; and which (h'ew 
and drew until they Hooded his dwelling. You can 
confine the application of this ]irinciple to no one 
class. Begin with distinction of color, and gradually 
it M'ill have come to overleap all distinction of color, 
as it has done already; for you know that men and 
women have heen sold in the slave marts with skins 
as white as yours. Assume tliat a slave women i* 
rightfully the toy and property of her master, and 
you lessen the respect for female virtue everywhere, 
and stop not short of that state of society which this 
is no place to lay bare, hut which has heen for years 
existing at the south, and than which hell itself can 
present nothing more revolting. Begin with right 
over a slave's person, and insensibly the master spirit 
will assert itself over other per.sons ; and if it dare not 
strike, will aii'ect contempt of wise and virtuous men, 
and come with its slave-driving airs and its talk of 
"mudsills" into tlu' national councils. Begin with 
killing a negro in the heat of passion, or by the ad- 
ministration of a few dozen lashes too manj-, and 
under a system which tinds it most politic to wink at 
such deeds, and the transition is easy to holdinii" the 
life of a white man in light esteem. The hot blood, 
the childish view of honor wdiieh sends the hand of 
the southern desperado to his knife-hilt or pistol- 
liaudle on the first fancied provocation, and which has 
made the south the favorite arena of the duelling 
code, are but other cases in point showing how disre- 



LINCOLN MEMORLAL. 189 

garcl of one class of rights has begotten disregard of 
all. The spirit which shot the President in his chair 
is the same spirit which has been inflicting mutilation 
and death ui^on men and women who dared open 
their months to condemn the benignant institution of 
slaverj', and sometimes on mere suspicion of their 
sentiments. It is the same spirit that struck down 
Charles Sumner in his place in the United States 
senate for daring to hold the niii'ror up to slavery, and 
to call things by their right names, and which gave 
public ovations to the miscreant who did the deed. 
And if you want a catalogue without end, turn over 
the history of this war, leaf by leaf, and see whether 
the spirit of slavery can be expected to respect any 
right. Rights ! even the grave has bad no rights. 
We have lived to see enacted on this land which we 
have claimed for Chriotian civilization, the feats that 
were deemed heroic, centuries ago by bai'barians who 
could quench their rage only in draughts from the 
skulls of their slain foes. We have driven the Indian 
from his native forest, and wept sentimental]}' over 
the horrors of the scalping knife, only to see the mu- 
tilation of the dead incorporated into the civilized 
warfare of the chivalrous south, and to have our 
murdered sons and brothers dug from their graves, 
and their bones hacked into pieces to furnish amulets 
for dainty southern dames. AVe have lived not only 
to read of the inquisition as histoiy, but to see it 
revived with refinements of crneltv in southern 



190 LINCOLN MEMOKTAL. 

prisons. We have seen even the hard mercies of 
civilized warfare ignored, and the policy deliberatelj' 
inaugurated of maiming and disabling liundreds and 
thousands of northern men. Have you seen the 
photographer's work? Have you marked the idiotic 
stare, the ghastly features, the protruding bones, the 
swollen joints? Have you studied the horrors of 
fever in the stockades of Andersonville ? Do you 
think it a small cause that will send men deliberately 
across the dead-line to be shot rather than pine longer 
amid such misery? Did you see the bread which 
George Stuart brought here a year ago, the staple of 
our imprisoned soldiers' fare ? Do you know that 
Libby Prison was undermined when the authorities 
of Richmond anticipated the appi-oacli of our troops, 
and that the hellish machinery was all in readiness to 
blow the prison into the air with its wliole living 
tenantry ? Have your minds sounded the black 
depths of the villainy that, under the shadow of Eng- 
lish neutrality plotted the propagation of pestilence 
in the north, and the burning and pillage of northern 
cities, and the poisoning of the reservoirs whence a 
million of human beings drew their daily supply ? 
Do you remember that this very act of murder over 
whicli we grieve was in contemplation four years ago, 
and that only a superintending Providence saved 
Abraham Lincoln to the United States, and Baltimore 
from adding another crime to the murder of Massa- 
chusetts troops? And are you to think this last event 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 191 

strange ? Is an assast^ination ont of keeping with the 
antecedents of slave barbarism ? No, no ! Shivery 
has done this deed, and upon it I call down the curse 
of heaven. I invoke it in the name of a down-trodden 
race ; I invoke it in the name of the hearts it has 
torn, the domestic ties it has severed, the virtue it has 
corrupted, the ignorance it has fostered ; in the name 
of man robbed of the image of his Maker, and of 
woman shorn of her dearest and most sacred rights; 
in the name of slave mothers sitting like Niobes all 
over the wasted heritage of the south ; in the name of 
the bliglited hopes and desolate hearths of the north ; 
in the name of the emaciated skeletons in our hospi- 
tals, and the maimed forms that crawl along our 
streets ; in the name of the mutilated and pillaged 
dead ; in the name of that bereaved widow and her 
fatherless children, and of the bereaved nation lying 
to-day in sackcloth and ashes ; I call down upon it 
the blight of heaven ; I brand it as the rcpresentalice 
trampler upon human riijlds. Oh ! that when its vile 
head shall have been crushed, as crushed it will be 
ere long, its vestiges might be obliterated forever. 
But this cannot ho. They will remain to bear testi- 
mony against the southern lords who have fostered 
and fought for it, and against the northern men who, 
in admiration of its patriarchal beauties, have lav- 
ished upon it their sympathy, and truckled to its 
imperious demands. The reminders are written all 
over the laud. The white tablets gleaming from a 



192 LINCOLN MEMOniAL 

thousand hill-sido chui'dij-ards sliall tell the story. 
Tlie rough boards that mark the thousands of graves 
by the Rappahannock and Potomac and Chickahomiuy 
shall moulder, but the grass shall grow more greenW 
there, and flowers bloom more luxuruintly ; and even 
iu their summer loveliness, the voice of brothers' 
blood shall cry from the ground. The plow shall 
turn up mute witnesses, and the fields, with their 
multitudinous relics of battle, be vocal with slavery's 
reproach. 

And the west shall remember it. It shall keep the 
lesson to whet its good sword, and to fire its heart, if 
ever traitors attempt a like experiment ; for tb.ere, in 
one of its quiet cemeteries, shall rise the monument 
of slave treason's last and greatest victim. To the 
home of his early struggles and successes, to the liome 
from which he went with prayer and faith to assume 
his high destiny, to it shall be the honored tasic of 
cherishing his loved remains, and his obelisk shall 
stand when our beloved land shall have emerged puri- 
fied and triumphant from this bloody ordeal, with its 
marble finger ever pointing to heaven in protest 
against the barbarism which tore him from the hearts 
of a loving people. 

But I turn now from the authorship of this calamity 
to the illustrious dead himself. 

Our late beloved President, while in no sense a 
sectional President, represented nevertheless a pecu- 
liar phase of our national life — its youngest, its most 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 193 

progressive side. The west was his Ijirth-place ; the 
west, that grand theatre where the pent up energy 
and glowing aspiration of all other portions of the 
land find ample room for development. While the 
west furnishes types of the best growths of other soils, 
it superadds to them a character peculiarly its own. 
It exhibits the shrewdness of New England without 
its rigidity; the geniality of the south without its 
passion. It combines the impulsiveness of the Caro- 
linas, and the caution of Maine and Connecticut. lu 
its more thinly settled districts men are obliged to fill 
larger spaces. The circumstances are more favorable 
for the development of strong individualities. A man 
cannot merge himself in a multitude or retire into a 
convenient oljscurity. He must till a place, do a 
work, assert himself, bring out the best that is in him, 
or sutler the consequent odium. The early life of the 
President was well adapted to call out the practical 
shrewdness, the strong common sense, and the know- 
ledge of men Avhich characterized him. In such 
societies men's culture, except in its practical adapt- 
ations, would have been wasted. Men's knowledge 
was estimated according to its visible practical contri- 
butions to the common weal. The emergencies of 
that pioneer life called for tact, readiness, practical 
ability. In the development of these the future Pre- 
sident was not wanting in mental stimulus and 
training. The very meagreness of the sources of 
knowledge sharpened his appetite for it, and perhaps 



194 IJXroLX MKyTOniAL. 

conti'il)iito(l to that characteristic thorougliiiess which 
placed what knowledge he had so thoroughh- at his 
command. The conscientious carefulness so earlj 
exhibited marked him throughout his oificial life ; so 
tliat whatever men nun- think of his expressed senti- 
ments ou any subject, his discussions alwaj-s sliow an 
opinion laboriously and conscientiously forme<1. The 
freedom and geniality of western life, its rough liut 
genuine familiarity, teuded to deepen a naturally 
sunny and aftectionate disposition. No less were the 
circumstances under which lie appeared in political 
life adapted to sharpen his intellect and lit him for 
the wider arena upon which he was destined to enter. 
That close contact of political leaders with the people, 
requiring Uiat the representatives of opposite parties 
should discuss the great questions of the day in their 
presence, was unfavorable to superficial knowledge or 
evasive logic. No point must be shirked, however 
difficult. lu the sword play of deliate before the 
people, exposed to a running fire of question and com- 
ment, with the keenest interest and the most intense 
feeling excited, he who evaded, if not exposed by his 
adversary', was discovered by the people, and com- 
pelled to meet the issue or blush for his ignorance or 
cowardice. From sucli a school he came to the 
executive chair. You know well how exciting and 
alarming was the crisis at which he assumed it. His 
own election liad been connived at by the opposite 
party to gain a pretext for the execution of their long 



Li:SCOL^^ 2,IEM(miAL. 195 

elierislied scheme of secession. South Carolina liad 
begun tlie pestilent work and had turned her guns 
upon a government fortress. The executive, too 
timid, too imbecile, or too much in sympathy with 
the treason, to act, refused to lift a finger to strangle 
the infant rebellion. States were falling into line 
under the new confederacy. Its agents had pilfered 
the public treasury and scattered the public munitions. 
The border states hung wavering in the balance, an 
object of apprehension and desire to either party. 
The slavery question was presenting itself under the 
most complicated aspect — the acknowledged source 
of the difJiculty, yet incapable of being assailed for 
the time. Foreign nations were prepared to extend 
their sympathy only on the ground of a crusade against 
slavery, and Ave were compelled by fidelity to the Con- 
stitution, to deal only with the overt act of treason, at 
the risk of forfeiting sympathy and insuring foreign 
intervention. The conspirators were jubilant over 
their first success, and boasting that their flag would 
soon wave over the Capitol. On this scene of turmoil 
and danger Abraham Lincoln entered at his inaugura- 
tion. Well might lie look forward with apprehension. 
Well might he say on leaving his western home : " A 
duty devolves upon me which is perhaps greater than 
tliat which has devolved upon any other man since the 
days of Washington." But once committed to his 
duty he was not the man to shrink. He had been 
used to meeting emergencies. He had been trained 



196 LINCOLN MEMOIilA I. 

in the school of difficulty; and gathering up his man- 
hood with a calm dignity and a childlike trust in God, 
he went forth to give his lahor and his life for his 
country. It is, of course, foreign to my purpose to 
follow him through that administration so fruitful in 
events, in which the nation has made history faster 
than in all the rest of her life together. I desire only 
to bring out a few of those traits whiidi most clearly 
illustrate the man, and with which the nation has been 
made familiar in his late position. His qualities of 
heart were such as commended him to all men. He 
was in the real sense of that term a hearty man. The 
expression of this characteristic was with him some- 
thing more than that assumed cordiality and familiar- 
ity which is counted one of the politician's necessary 
weapons. It went beyond mere hand-shakings and 
expressions of good fellowship. He was naturally 
disposed to think well of his race. Ills prepossessions 
were generally in favor of a man. He would rather 
love than hate him ; and hence his feeling was lite- 
rally cordial — the spontaneous outgoing of a frank 
and manly nature. In the theatre of his earlier victo- 
I'ies, he was a man whose intellectual power his 
adversaries feared; but he would rather disarm an 
oiiponent with a good natured jest than with a sarcasm 
or denunciation. With such a nature, liacked h\ a 
keen appreciation of the ludicrous, a ready memory, a 
quick perception, a wide experience, his power of 
anecdote and repartee has become proverbial. This 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 197 

feature of his claaracter, which has provoked the sneers 
of the starched magnates of Europe, has ever appeared 
to my mind as a special gift for a special emergency. 
As already remarked, such a burden rested upon him 
as seldom or never fell to any ruler's lot. Added to 
the intricacy and number of the state questions con- 
stantly before him, his natural kindness of heart ren- 
dered him accessible to numberless petty, personal 
applications which he would have been fully justified 
in committing to subordinates; and that never-failing 
fund of cheerfulness, that exhaustless humor which 
the most complicated problem would so often "j-emind 
of a story," that elasticity which suiiered him to bate 
not one jot of heart or hope in those times when the 
strongest held their breath, were God's own gifts to 
the care-worn man, blessed springs of refreshing and 
strength gushing up all along the dusty road of official 
duty. 

But this element of his character had yet a deeper 
and more practical bearing upon his otfieial life. Ofli- 
cial brusqueness is by no means a rare quality, and, in 
a position where, as in the executive seat, it is so often 
necessary to say "no!" decidedly and sternly, is not 
an altogether valueless one. Many men of kindly 
natures rapidly acquire it under the ceaseless rasping 
of oificial duty. But upon Mr. Lincoln the eiFect of 
his constant and wearing intercourse with the people 
was, if anything, rather to open his heart to them, and 
to make him more unwilling to refuse any reasonable 



jgg LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

request. Haughty and cold lie could not be, but in 
his never failing humor lie found a shield as well as a 
sword, a nu'dium of refusal which relieved the task of 
half its pain to liimself and etfeetually tempered its 
bitterness to the disappointed applieant. His kindly 
satire covered the evasion of many an intrusive ques- 
tion, and the denial of many a petition which duty 
forbade kindness to grant. As it was, his deep consci- 
entiousness, his keen sense of justice, his unwillingness 
to wrong anything human, and perhaps his too great 
faith in the natural goodness of mankind, led him at 
times to be lenient and forgiving, when many thought 
that severity would have been but justice. His per- 
sonal kindness had extended to his own assassin. His 
mind, at the time of his death, was full of scliemes for 
the forgiveness and restoration of the traitors who 
had struck at the nation's heart ; and if it be that the 
south is avenged in his death, she will tind it to be a 
vengeance that will recoil upon her own head ; tor in 
liim she has lost her best friend, and however little we 
could attbrd to spare him, she could afford it still less. 
The lightness and jocularity of which I have spoken, 
were but a veil for sterner traits. They were but as 
the waving verdure, flecked with passing shadows, 
and toyed with by every wind, yet growing upon the 
everlasting hills whose heart is rock, and whose 
foundations arc in the depths of the earth. His up- 
rightness has passed into a proverb. His jest and 
story covered a strength of purpose, a rigid determina- 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 199 

tion, an adherence to principle whieh no crooked 
policy could undermine, and which no bribe was 
great enough to tempt. In the real old Roman sense 
of the term he was an honest man — an embodiment of 
manly worth and honor. Where men or measures 
stood in the way of principle they must go down. 
When even plausible views of moral right on certain 
great questions were urged upon him by reformers, 
he could even consent for the time to be deemed false 
■to the great objects of philanthropy, rather than 
swerve from his conscientiously chosen policy. He 
did not consult personal popularity. He regarded 
himself as the people's servant ; and to do tlieir Avork 
in the best way, and in accordance with his sworn 
obligation to the Constitution, was his sole care. And 
the secret of this lay in his religiousness. From the 
time of his assumption of his office to his death, his 
words on all public occasions breathe a spirit of trust 
in the God of nations. After his assumption of otfice, 
he became the subject of deeper religious experience. 
Amid the graves of the fallen heroes of Gettysburg, 
the weary and heavy laden heart which the impend- 
ing cares of state and the bitterness of bereavement 
had fiiiled to bring to the cross, accepted Christ as its 
guide and His yoke and burden as its portion. This 
sentiment is the key-note of the few words spoken by 
him on leaving his home for Washington. "Wash- 
ington would never have succeeded except for the aid 
of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times 
26 



200 LINCOLN MEMOIUAL. 

relied. 1 feel that I caunot succeed without the same 
Divine aid u'liich sustained liini, and on the same Al- 
mighty being I place 1113- reliance for support." Of 
him it might be justlj said, as of William of Orange, 
to whose character his own presents some points of 
similarity: "From his trust iu God, he ever derived 
support and consolation iu the darkest hours. Impli- 
citly relyiug upon Almighty wisdom and goodness, 
he looked danger iu the face with a constant smile, 
and eudured incessant labors and trials with a serenitv 
which seemed more than human;" and, in the beau- 
tiful words of him who pronounced his funeral eulogy, 
•■"While we admired and loved him on many accounts, 
more suitable than any or all of these, more holy and 
influential, more beautiful and strong and sustaining, 
was his habitual confidence in God, and in the tinal 
triumph of truth and righteousuess through him and 
for His sake. This was his noblest virtue aud grand- 
est principle, the secret alike of his strength, his 
liatriotism and his success. Aud tliis, it seems to me, 
after being near him steadily, and with him often for 
more than four years, is the principle by whiclj. more 
than bj' auy^other, he being dead yet speaketh." 

Oil : were it my lot to speak this day to men 
in high places, I would commend to him who 
comes to Abraham Lincoln's place, this trait al>o\e 
any in Abraham Lincoln's character. I would im- 
plore him by the great interests of hunumity now 
committed to him, in view of the fact that the ques- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 201 

tions which sway the nation to-day have risen far 
above the reahn of politics, into that of morals and 
religion ; in view of the insignificance of all human 
power and wisdom, in an arena where God is so 
manifestly exercising control, and shaping the age's 
destiny, to look to this first of all. I would implore 
him to let the wave of prayer that sweeps toward 
him from every hearthstone in the land, bear him to 
the secret places of the Most High, there to seek the 
leadings of that higher will, there to have his thought 
drawn into sympathy with the Divine purposes, there 
to be clad in the mantle of Lincoln's unswerving 
faith, and thence to come forth and place himself at 
the nation's head, girt with a sublimer strength, a 
purer patriotism, and a holier wisdom. 

The elements of the President's intellectual cha- 
racter were not complex. It has been taken for 
granted that he did not exhibit th^ characteristics of 
a great statesman. But without presuming to deny 
this, I would not be too certain that he was wanting 
in the capacities for the highest statesmanship. His 
discernment was quick ; his power of generalizing 
not inferior; his grasp of a subject firm; his know- 
ledge of political machinery extensive, though ga- 
thered from experience more than from study. His 
polic}', as exhibited in his administration, was cautious 
and far-reaching. To his sterling integrity and 
frankness he added the wiliness of a Talleyrand. 
Under other influences, and in a foreign court, he 



202 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

might liuvc (levoloped into a diplomat of tlie first 
order. After all that has heeu said of his stateFmau- 
ship, it cannot be denied that he piloted the nation 
through one of the most difficult of all jiossible jnnc- 
turcs with consummate skill and tact, and, the result 
will probably show, with as few mistakes as any man 
would have been likely to make under similar circum- 
stances. His ignorance or rejection of mere technicali- 
ties may, iu some instances, have blinded superficial 
observers to the statesmanlike qualities of his mind. 
He was one of those to whom it was given to show the 
courts of Europe tliat the difference between the ad- 
ministrators of the old and new world is in the polish 
rather than in the temper of the blade. He laid no 
claim to the rhetorician's laurels, yet his public docu- 
ments were strongly, clearly and vigorously written. 
His state papers were eminently popular documents. 
The discussions of political issues introduced into 
them were set forth ofttimes with familiar illustrations, 
which, while they might provoke a smile ti-om the 
sticklers for official stateliness, imparted to them a 
wonderful freshness, and tended to root their princi- 
ples deep iu the popular mind. No president has 
ever surpassed him, if any has ecjualled him, in clear- 
ly defining his policy to the masses. His strong, 
practical common sense was the basis of his intel- 
lectual character. In his political discussions he had 
a rare faculty of detecting and exposing sophistry. 
He seized intuitively upon the vital point of every 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 203 

qncstion, clearl}- stated tlie real issue, ranged all sub- 
ordinate facts round this, and summarily discarded 
everything which had no relation to it. This faculty 
proved especially valuable in the class of questions 
with which his administration so largely dealt. His 
strong sense saved the Constitution from its greatest 
danger, the danger of tying its own liands ; and this 
was what enabled him to cut the Gordian knot where 
some men would have found themselves embarrassed 
by a mere technicality or formula. 

Perhaps one of the chief elements of his success in 
this respect was what I may call his doeiliti/. Tiiis 
feature of his character stamps him as truly great, 
when viewed in relation to the facts of his adminis- 
tration. For a man may be truly willing to learn, 
without the aliility to profit by his acquisitions. But 
when a man not only learns of passing events in the 
spirit of a child, but out of his learning draws a 
power which equals him to whatever emergency they 
develop, — when he grows in wisdom and majesty and 
power with his task, we may no longer refuse him 
the meed of greatness. Lincoln's simplicity here, 
was wiser than many another man's wisdom. A less 
teachable, more conceited man, coming to the execu- 
tive chair at that crisis, Avith a determination to make 
events bend to a definite inflexible policy, might have 
plunged the nation in ruin. I have heard it said 
more than once since the war began, " would that 
Jackson, or a man of his mould were at the helm." 



204 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

But I question now, wlietlier it would hare been well. 
The stern olil iiero wouhl seurcely ha\e fallen so 
reaililv into the track of events as the more pliable, 
Ijut not less courageous Lincoln. God knew his 
instrument better than we did. The crisis was one 
which no preconceived human policy could fit. A 
polic}' had to develop itself out of the crisis, and it is 
not the least of Abraham LineohTs claims to great- 
ness, that lie had the humility to accept this fact, 
and the power to use it so successfully'. 

•■ No hii.sty f'oi)l of stuliborn will, 
But prudent, cautious, pliant still, 
Who, since his work was good, 
Would do it as he could. 
Doubting, was not ashamed to doubt, 
And lacking prescience went without." 

He was willing to learn not only from events but 
from the people. He, as already remarked, recog- 
nized himself as the people's choice: as the expo- 
nent of their will. His words on this subject as 
reported by a late writer, are important as illustrating 
a rule of his action, and to some extent perhaps, the 
representative character of his mind and of his ad- 
ministration. When some one remonstrated with 
him for giving so much of his time to petty applica- 
tions, and not referring them to subordimitcs, he 
replied. "Ah, yes ! such tilings do very well for _you 
military people, with your arbitrary rule, and in your 
camps. But the office of President is essentially a 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 205 

(:\\\\ one, and the affixir is very difi'erent. For myself, 
I feel — tliough tlie tax on my time is heavy — that no 
hours of my day are better employed than those 
whieh thus bring me again within the direct contact 
and atmosphere of the average of our whole people. 
Men moving only in an official circl.e are apt to be- 
come merely official— -not to say arbitrary — in their 
ideas ; and are apter and apter, with each passing day, 
to forget that they only hold power in a representative 
capacity. Is^ow this is all wrong. I go into these 
promiscuous receptions of all, who claim to have 
business with me twice each week, and every appli- 
cant for audience has to take his turn as if waiting to 
be shaved in a barber's shop. Many of the matters 
brought to my notice are utterly frivolous ; but others 
arc of more or less inii>ortance ; and all serve to re- 
new in me a clearer and more vivid image of that 
great popular assemblage out of which I sprang, and 
to which at the end of two years I must return. I 
tell you. Major,'" he said — appearing at this point to 
recollect I was in the room, for the former part of 
these remarks had been made with half shut eyes, as 
if in soliloquy — "I tell you that I call these recep- 
tions my public-opinion baths, for I have little time to 
read the papers and gather public opinion that way ; 
and though they may not be pleasant in all their par- 
ticulars, the effect, as a whole, is renovating and in- 
vigorating to my perceptions of responsibility and 
duty. It would never do for a president to have 



206 IJyCOLX MKMOKIAL. 

guards with diawu sabres at lii.s door, a.s if he fuiicied 
he were, or were trying to be, or were assiiiniHg to be, 
an emperor." 

And out of this grew as a cousequenee tliat direct 
personal interest of the people in liini wliich has lion- 
ored his tomb with the most magnificent demon- 
stration of public sorrow ever paid to a ruler. The 
reverence of the people for Washington might have 
equalled if not surpassed that conceded to Lincoln. 
I doubt if the Nation's loi'c for its first president 
equalled its love for the last. The more stately 
revolutionary regime, the circumstance of birth, the 
condition of society, even the character of the Father of 
his Country, did not tend to bring the liearts of presi- 
dent and people in as close contact then as now. 
We never knew this until he was taken from us. For 
four years the hearts and eyes of the nation had un- 
conciously rested on him as the central figure of every 
}iublic movement ; for four years he has been demon- 
strating by continuous testimony his personal in- 
terest in ever}' man, woman and child of the American 
people that came into contact with him. Those who 
had never seen him, knew nevertheless that the same 
cordial welcome, the same afteetionate sympathy with 
their cares and wishes awaited them if their time 
should come : and when he died, it was as if the light 
had gone out of every eye. Every hand instinctively 
groped for a support, and little children wept because 
Abraham Lincoln was dead. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 207 

A recent article from the London )<pcciaior so forci- 
bly illustrates some of these views that I may be 
pardoned for quoting an extract: 

"But without the advantages of Washington's 
education or training, Mr. Lincoln was called from a 
humble station at the opening of a mighty civil war 
to form a government ont of a party iu which the 
habits and traditions of official life did not exist. 
Finding himself the oljject of southern abuse so fierce 
and so foul that in any man less passionless it would 
long ago have stirred up an implacable animosity ; 
mocked at for his official awkwardness and denounced 
for his steadfast policy by all the Democratic section 
of the loj-al states; tried by years of failure before 
that policy achieved a single great success ; further 
tried by a series of successes so rapid and brilliant 
that tliey would have pufi'ed up a smaller mind and 
overset its balance ; embarrassed by the boastfulness 
of his people and of his subordinates no less than by 
his own inexperience in his relations with foreign 
states ; lieset hy fanatics of principle on one side, who 
would pay no attention to his obligations as a consti- 
tutional ruler, and ))y fanatics of caste on the other, 
who were not only deaf to the claims of justice but 
would hear of no policy large enough for a revolu- 
tionary emergency, Mr. Lincoln has persevered 
through all without ever giving way to anger, or de- 
spondency, or exultation, or popular arrogance, or 
sectarian fanaticism, or caste prejudice, visibly grow- 
27 



208 LINCOLN MEMOSTAL. 

iug ill force oi' character, in self-possession, and in 
inagnaiiimitj, till, in liis last sliort message to Con- 
gress on the fourth of March, we can detect no longer 
the rude and illiterate mould of a village lawyer's 
thought, but tind it replaced by a grasp of principle, 
a dignity of manner, and a solemnity of purpose which 
would have been unworthy neither of Hampden nor 
of Cromwell, while his gentleness and gencrositv of 
feeling towards his foes are almost greater than we 
should expect from either of them." 

At once the representative fact of his administra- 
tion, and that which distinguished it above any other 
in our history, is its relations to the great question of 
human bondage. In this respect liis administration 
forms an era in the history of the race. The status 
of the (juestion at the time of his inauguration, and 
for a long time after, was peculiar and dithcult. The 
moral and political aspects of the contest were 
brought into apparent antagonism; and the foreign 
emiss.iries of secession had no dearer object than to 
prove this antagonism real, and thus alienate from us 
the .sympathy of Europe. Europe, knowing slavery 
to lie at the root of our trouble, expected us to strike 
at once at slavery. IFf, knowing the fact equally 
well, could, at the time, strike only at treason. We 
could deal only Avith the immediate development, 
not with the ultimate cause. The provisions of the 
Constitution, the divided sentiment of the north, the 
hesitating attitude of the border states, the general 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 209 

ignorance of the extent and matnritj of the conspi- 
racy, made it a matter of the utmost difficulty and 
delicacy. The President clearly appreciated the 
source of the difficulty, and, as the result showed, had 
its removal as deeply at heart as any man. Hence, 
at Philadelphia, prior to his inauguration, he re- 
marked: "I have often inquired of myself what 
great principle or idea it was that kept this confede- 
racy so long together. It was something in the 
Declaration of Independence, giving liberty not only 
to the people of this country, but hope to the world 
for all coming time. It was that which gave promise 
that in due time the weights should be lifted from the 
shoulders of all men, and that all should have an 
equal chance. If this country cannot be saved with- 
out giving up that principle, I was about to say I 
would rather he asmssinaicd upon (he spot than surrender 
if." I need not follow the great question through the 
liistory of its solution. The world will bear testimony 
to the cautious, far-seeing wisdom with which he 
dealt with it. History will do justice to the man who 
could make impulse, however high and generous 
stand back for duty. It will bear witness to the faith 
which could wait as well as labor: which was content 
to let the result come out in the slow grinding of the 
mills of God, without putting forth his hand to 
quicken the machinery. It will record how sacredly 
he respected the constitutional rights of the south ; 
how timely were his warnings ; how liberal his solici- 



210 LTXOOLy MEMORIAL. 

tiitioiis, until at last, Avhoii he saw that God's purpose 
was ripe, when, having kept adroitly in the rear of 
events, yet having so employed tliem as to make the 
full power of the popular wave bear him to his goal, 
lie rose in his might, and with a word that eehocd 
through the world, the fetters fell forever from the 
slave. How a great moral act like this looms up 
amid the political developments of the age, and those 
things which more directly touch us as individuals — 
questions of financial policj-, learned diplomatic cor- 
respondence, generals, victories, deeds of individual 
heroism, party triumphs. For when state volumes 
shall he mouldering in libraries, and the soldiers" 
children's children playing with his rusty sword and 
asking its story, when the names of old political 
parties shall be obsolete, and the issues wlildi created 
them forgotten, this fact shall be fresh in the nation's 
memory. Abraham Lincoln signed the death war- 
rant of American slavery. Thank (^od, -the past at 
least is secure." What lu' has done in this matter 
will not be undone. The moral sentiment of tlie 
nation, educated by the stern discipline of war and 
soi-row, has followed up the blow and clinched the 
nail, ami to-day one mighty will pulsates from east to 
west, that this curse shall be no more. Shut close 
thine accursed door, oh! slave mart. Stand in the 
nudst of the southern cities, a monument of a past 
barbarism, a haunted place past whicli the belated 
wayfarer shall hasten, and whose story of horror shall 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 211 

lie told with bated breath. Where the auctioneer's 
hammer sealed the doom of luunauity and virtue, let 
the rank grass grow, and scorpions lurk, and silence 
brood, and over its door let it be written — ^'-Acel- 
dama." Lie still, oh! slave ship, in thy port, thou 
whose every plank and timber is seasoned witli bitter 
tears ; lie still and rot in the blistering sun ; let the 
foul slime and ooze gather about thy keei, and the 
crawling things of the deep, foul shapes that fishers' 
line never brought to light, lurk in thy shadow ; and 
let the breeze I'efuse to fill thine idle sails, and no 
traitorous wind ever send thee lessening down the 
west on thy mission of woe. Pile the fetters into the 
furnace, and let the molten flood pour forth into 
moulds of plow and pruning-hook wherewith the ran- 
somed man shall bring beauty out of the wilderness, 
and train the clustering vines of the south over his 
cabin, his home, his castle, on whose threshold he 
shall have a man's right to stand and keep the de- 
stroj-er from his flock. This land at least cannot, 
dare not renew the curse. It dare not cancel the 
charter to which Abraham Lincohi set his hand. His 
great shade would rise from the grave in its fiery 
indignation. No, the hand cannot be found that shall 
rivet the chains again, and this deed of his shall stand 
in time to come, a monument more enduring than 
brass, whose inscription angels shall pause to read on 
their messages of peace. 

But he could not be spared to us longer. His work 



2 1 2 LINCOLN MEMORIA L. 

here was done. Heaven had new and hiyher purposes 
eoiieei'iiing Itiiii whieli it (hn's not reveal to us ; and 
now that he lias been so mysteriously and suddeidy 
snatclied from us, it beeomes us to ask with all due 
reverence, " What does it mean ?"' 

He must be presumptuous indeed who shall assume 
to interpret such a providence, and to say for what 
end this blow hath fallen. We can do little more 
than sit reverently at God's closed spates, and wait 
until He shall tell us more. Yet there are some 
thoughts so naturally suggested to ns that we should 
not be justified in wholly passing them bv. 

The juncture at which the event occuri-ed is signiti- 
cant. The President was fully committed to a vigor- 
ous [irosecution of the war, and to the submission of 
the rebels as the lirst condition of peace. He was 
reelected on this basis over a man who, in all h.unan 
probability, would have stopped the war where it Avas, 
patched up an unrighteous peace, and left the Mdiole 
fundamental question open for our children to settle. 
Lincoln lived to see his policy carried out — the 
military power of the rebellion broken ; and almost 
at the very hour of this consummation his life was 
cut short. I accept this as an indication that his work 
as an instrument of Providence ended here, and that 
the %york of reconstruction belonged to other and 
doubtless fitter instruments. I will not positively 
assert that his policy toward traitors was so much too 
lenient that God replaced him by a man who, we have 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 213 

good reason to think, will not err in this direction. 
Yet I say that this may be so, and that it looks like it. 
Mr. Lincoln Avas a man whose policy was formed in 
the light of events, and in this instance it had not 
had time to develop itself fully ; bnti have no hesita- 
tion in saying that in so far as it had developed itself, 
it was setting, in my opinion, mnch too strongly in 
the direction of lenity and conciliation. We may 
talk as we will about the great right of freedom of 
speech, but if this right be admitted to be unlimited 
at all times, I cannot see but that a popular govern- 
ment like this deliberately exposes itself to the most 
mischievous of all results, a perverted public opinion. 
I see nothing in the letter or spirit of the Constitution 
which should prevent such men as Vallandigham and 
the "Woods, and others who might be named, whose 
treason was open and blatant, and who, from their 
public [losition and influence, were enabled to divide 
tlio north, and give aid and comfort to our enemies — 
nothing which should prevent their mouths being 
stopped, and they themselves being put beyond the 
possibility of doing further mischief. And as for the 
leading traitors of the south — the men who struck 
their blow deliberately and with malice aforethought — 
who, for years before the overt act, were digging their 
mines and laying their train, I call upon the Christian 
justice and common sense of this nation to show cause 
why they should not suffer the extreme penalty of the 
law ? T>o we not j'et realize the full significance of 



214 LiyUOLX ME.VOBIAL. 

their crime? Have we been so free from tlie damning 
crime of treason, that we do not yet recognize it, even 
wlion it comes to us without pretence of disguise ? 
Do we realize the murder and outrage and desolation 
that have followed in its track, and are we to stand 
here to-day and clasp their blood-stained hands in 
ours, and welcome Ijack to fellowship those who only 
want the opportunity to renew their devilish work? 
For one, I say no.' In simple justice «o.' AVe have 
been all along discussing this cpiestion on the basis of 
the right or wrong of retaliation, forgetting that that 
cpiestion does not enter into the consideration at all. 
The question is simply whether we will put in force 
the laws against treason which wc have made for our 
own protection. We need to understand a Utile more 
clearly the true relations of the divine law to individu- 
als and to states in forming a correct view of this ques- 
tion. It is clear enough that revenge is to have no place 
in an individual Christian's creed. If thine enemy 
hunger feed him. If he thirst give him drink. Love is 
to be the ruling principle of action between man and 
man. In God's law for the regulation of communities 
the same principle rules, but under different manifesta- 
tions ; manifestations which sometimes blind us to the 
principle. Let government proceed upon the principle 
of blessing those that curse it, and doing good to tiiose 
that despitefully use it, and on the instant you convert 
government into the great foster mother of crime and 
society into a city of refuge for the most depraved 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 215 

villains upon earth : 3-011 forbid war in self defence : 
you put society at the mercy of evil. Now I say that 
in social regulations the principle of love operates just 
as really as in individual relations. But it operates 
under the limitation that God consults for the greatest 
good of the greatest number, and therefore it exhibits 
itself ill those protections and retributions, which are 
inseparable from law. The highest exhibition of 
mercy in such cases is through strict retributive 
justice. So, if Jeffei-son Davis comes to my door 
disguised for flight, and says, I am hungry, weary, 
thirsty, though I remember that my brother was 
starved at Libbj', or my father shot at Andersonville, 
or my home barned and my property ruined by the 
myrmidons of this arch traitor, as a man I am 
bound to feed him and rest him. But I am a 
citizen also; and I shall deserve to be hanged- 
myself if I do not say to him, you may eat of my 
bread, you may drink of my cup, you may rest on my 
couch, but from this place you shall not go if I have 
power to stop you, until you go in company of the 
provost marshal and his guards. We cannot atibrd to 
be lenient to these men. It has been said that we have 
triumphed gloriously enough, and are strong enough 
to forgive. I grant the fact, but deny the inference. 
We do not want our iirst great public act after our 
victories to be a wholesale violation of our own law in 
favor of the men who have left no means untried to 
ruin us. In the words of our present executive, lenitv 
28 



216 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

of the few ma}' be injustice to the many. By an in- 
discriminatp lenity wo shall only be setting so many 
vipers loose to sting and to poison. It was the spirit 
of the conquered south that smote down the President. 
The hatred of free institutions, and the spirit of 
revenge and malice have not died out with the military 
power of the rebellion. They are as strong to-day in 
the crushed and humbled south as on the morning 
when its bastard palmetto first waved over Sumter. 
The snake is scotched, but not killed. We owe some- 
thing to justice as well as to mercy. Something to 
self protection as well as to forgiveness ; and in the 
name of this bleeding country, in the name of our 
maimed and starved soldiers, in the name of our 
blighted hearts and homes, I call upon government 
to put in force against these leading traitors the 
penalty of the law. And I would their gibbet were 
so high tliat every man north and south might see it 
from his housetop, and learn as he looks that treason 
is not safe for the perpetrator : high enough for the 
despots of Europe, and its statesmen who have longed 
for the fall of the republic, to learn that the republic 
has yet strength enough and self respect enough to 
punish terribly those who strike at her vitals. Citi- 
zens of this community, gathered here to-day, let this 
be our last experience in the toleration of treason. It 
has been allowed too much liberty heretofore. It is 
time its mouth was stopped. If we cannot stop it at 
the south, we can at least stop it here. Nothing less 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 217 

than this is onr duty ; ami let us go forth from this 
place resolved to foster a public sentiment that shall 
from this time forth, sternly though calmly and legally 
silence the press or the man, no matter what his 
position, that dares to lift up a voice in favor of ex- 
tenuation of treason. 

As another lesson, we are taught to respect our own 
government more; to cherish it more fondly than 
ever. "What has it done for us in the present crisis ? 
There are nations where such an event would have 
blocked the wheels of legislation, and thrown all 
things into direst confusion. To-day government 
moves on without a break or jar. Ere the nation's 
ruler is scarce cold in death, his successor steps quiet- 
ly into his vacant place, without a movement or a 
remonstrance from the great nation. And the nation 
itself but falls back a pace to let the retiring leader's 
bier pass out, to look for one moment on his beloved 
face, to exchange a word on his many virtues, and 
then closes up fast and firm round his successor, with 
a sterner determination to push its great work to its 
completion. 

Again we are reminded " Little children keep your- 
selves from idols." As much as any other people we 
are hero worshipers. With all our vaunted independ- 
ence, popular leaders sway us mightily. All through 
this conflict God's voice has been saying to us, as one 
after another of our trusted champions bit the dust, 
"Put not your trust in princes." I tremble when I 



•218 IJKCOLN MEMOlilAL. 

hear iiu'ii sa\', ■• (irant is left. Slicrman is left. Slieri- 
daii ami Thomas are left." God wants tliis nation to 
trust ill Ilini, and in Him only. He conies to us to-dav 
in our heart-sickness, and asks ns if we think aiiv man 
or Iiody of men is indispensable, and dictates to us 
our lesson again, " The Lord rcic/ncth.' Let the earth 
rejoice!" And when our leaders fall, he l)ids us not to 
be looking back to the ranks, anxiously and tearfully 
asking: "What shall we do now?" but toward to 
where his pillar of fire moves steadily on through the 
night ill solemn and mysterious majesty, and saying 
to our fainting hearts, •' God is hft! and in the name 
of the Lord will we set u]! our banners." 

And this event draws us more closely together. 
Around the coffin of our beloved dead we clasp hands, 
and feel shoulder touch shoulder, and even amid the 
bitterness of this bereavement it is a blessed thing to 
know that we are more nearly one than ever. If the 
south had striven to select the act which of all otliers 
should concentrate the sentiment of the north against 
her, which should commit the whole people irrevo- 
cably to the completion of the work they liave taken 
in hand, they could not have made a hapiiier choice. 
If anything were needed to teach a certain class of 
northern men the true nature and tendencies of the 
cause tliey have been secretly favoring, this deed has 
siniplied the want. Henceforth, brothers, we go forth 
more unitedly to our work. Henceforth the lines are 
more sharply drawn. Henceforth we know but two 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 219 

classes — loyal men and traitors. Northern men with 
southern principles, I tell you your skirts are not 
clear of the President's blood. You have fostered the 
spirit which struck the blow. You have apologized 
for it. You have fretted and been angry at those who 
would insist that slavery was at the root of that care- 
lessness of human right and human life, that mad 
ambition, that aristocratic folly which precipitated 
the country into war. And now the result has justi- 
fied them. This last deed has crowned the catalogue 
which has been running up so rapidly for four years 
past; and I do most of you the credit to believe that 
from this, its last work, you shrink aghast. I do j^ou 
the justice to believe that your hearts ec|ually with 
mine condemn this deed. I could not believe other- 
wise and belit've you men. And now, by the open 
grave of the nation's President, amid tlie tears of the 
people, by every consideration of national honor and 
self-respect, I entreat j-ou to look upon the legitimate 
fruit of soutliern [irinciplcs, and from this time forth, 
in the name of God and humanity, come out from 
among them and be separate, and touch not the un- 
clean thing. 

• And still we linger by the open grave. One look 
more ere the clods fall and the tomb enfolds him in 
its cold embrace. Is it not some ghastly nightmare — 
some dreadful dream from which we shall awake by 
and by to find the nation still undisgraced by murder, 
and him still at the lielm ? Alas, alas ! the cold re- 



220 LIXCOLX MEMOniAL. 

ality will not depart at our bidding. Abraham Lin- 
coln is dead. Gone from a nation's burdens and a 
nation's love. Stridden down in tlie fore front of the 
battle ; liis great worlv done, yet with his armor on, 
in tlie liigli noon of a noble, successful, God-fearing 
manhood. And by that sterling worth, that simple 
piety, that kindness and tenderness, that never folter- 
ing faith in God and humanity, he, being dead, yet 
speaketh. Aye, speaketh. I hear his voice come 
down to us from the tranquil heights of his eternal 
rest bidding us be true to ourselves, true to our na- 
tional idea, true to freedom, true to God, daring to be 
just though the heavens tall. I hear him saying to 
the nation: "Away with those idle tears, these vain 
regrets ; ye have no time now for lamentation ; 
' The day of tlie Lord is at hand, at hand, 
Its storms roll up the sky,' 
and the meekest of saints may find stern work to do. 
Up and be doing !" 

We hear thee beloved leader, and here, beside thy 
tomb, we put off our sackcloth and ashes and take 
oiu- armor to ourselves again. "VVe turn our fixces to 
the future, and from under the shadow of this dispen- 
sation we go forth with girded loins and trimmed 
lamps and in God's strength to work out our destiny. 
"We leave thee with God on thy n>ount of vision, 
and press on at the beck of our new leader to that 
promised land which thou sawest from afar, but wert 
not permitted to enter ; press on, bearing the inspi- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. <231 

ration of thy courage into battles yet to come. And 
tlaou slialt be gloriously avenged one day. Thou 
shalt be avenged when our Union, the object of thy 
dearest desire, shall stand cemented anew, " now and 
forever, one and iusepai'able." Thou shalt be 
avenged in every look which down-trodden humanity 
shall send across the sea to our land, then, as never 
before, the home of the oppressed. Thou shalt be 
avenged when one heart and one mind shall animate 
the people ; when Americans shall know no north, 
no south, and one starry flag, the dear old banner 
which was the joy of thine ej-es, covers with its ample 
folds the children of those who now thirst for each 
others blood. Thou shalt be avenged when the echo 
of war shall have died out from our hillsides, and 
the war desolated laud be blossoming like a paradise 
beneath the willing hand of free industry. Thou 
shalt be avenged when, beneath the palmetto's shade, 
Africa's sons shjfll teach their children to lisp thy 
name, and bedew thine immortal charter with their 
grateful tears. Oh ! even amid the grand realities 
which ere tliis have dawned upon thy vision, thou 
shalt not surely be so far removed from sympathy 
with the land thou lovedst and diedst foi*, that thou 
wilt not follow her career with thy spirit gaze, and 
smile with heavenly joy, when thou shalt see peace 
within her walls and prosperity within her palaces. 
And so, till our work be done, and we follow thee 
into the silence, we bid thee farewell. Sleep ! be- 



222 LINCOLN MEMOIUAL. 

loved ruler ! Rest ! great, tender, careworn heart ! 
Sleep sweetly in the bosom of the West, while the 
gratitude of the down-trodden and the love of the 
u.ation gather like clustering vines round thy tomb, 
and thy monument points through the years to 
heaven, telling the oppressed of a liberator and the 
tyrant of an avenger. 

" Uplifted high in heart and hope are we, 
Until we doubt not that, for one so true 
There must be other, nobler work to do. 
And victor he must ever be. 
For tho' the giant ages heave the liill, 
And break the shore, and evermore 
Make and break and work their will; 
Tho' worlds on worlds in myriad myriads roll 
Round us, each with different powers, 
And other forms of life than ours. 
What know we greater than the soul? 
On God and godlike men we build our trust. 
Hush ! The dead-march wails in the people's ears : 
The dark crowd moves, and there are sobs and tears; 
The black earth yawns ; the mortal disappears ; 
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust : 
He is gone who seemed so great, 
Gone, but nothing can bereave him 
Of the force he made his own 
Being here, and we believe him 
Something far advanced in state 
And that he wears a truer crown 
Than any wreath that man can weave him. 
But speak no more of his renown, 
Lay your earthly fancies down 
And in the vast cathedral leave iiim ; 
God accept hum — Christ receive him." 



lincoln memorial. 223 

The Nation's Sorrow. — Substance of a Sermon 
Preached in the State Street Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

BY BEV. EKASTUS WENTWORTH, 1).D. 

And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made i/reat lamenta- 
tion over him. — Acts, viii, 2. 

Rendering funeral honors to the dead is an imme- 
morial custom as Avidespread as the human race. The 
oldest records, poetic and historical, throw abundant 
light upon the burial usages of the ancients. In 
Homer's Iliad an entire T;ook is devoted to the de- 
scription of the rites and games celebrated by the 
Greeks in honor of the slain Patroclus. The funeral 
panegyrics of Pericles and Demosthenes were gems 
of eloquence and ranked with the most admired com- 
positions of classical antiquity. 

The honors paid by Abraham to the remains of 
Sarah, are chronicled in the book of Genesis, in an 
account as minute, and almost as long as that of the 
creation by the same author. 

Jacob, when led hy his treacherous sons to believe 
that Joseph was dead, rent his clothes, put sackcloth 
aipon his loins, mourned for his son many days and 
said, "Twill go down into the grave unto my sou 
mourning." 

When this patriarch died at a great age in Egypt, 
he was embalmed with care, mourned by the Egyptians 
seventy days, escorted to Canaan with a grand funeral 
29 



224 l.l.WOLX MEWnilAL. 

procession and there hewailed with such sore lamenta- 
tion, that tlie woudering Canaanites said "this is a 
grievous mourning to the Egyptians," and tht' place of 
their seven days" weeping was thenceforward iiojmlarlv 
designated as tlie "Egyptians' Mourning. " 

The bones of Josepli accompanied the Israelites as a 
sacred deposit during all tlieir forty years' wander- 
ing. "The children of Israel wept for Moses in the 
plains of Moab thirty days." " Samu'el died ; and al^ 
the Israelites were gathered togetlier, and lamented 
him, and buried him in his house at Ramah." 

David pronounced eulogies full ot pathos and 
beauty over the murdered Abner and the slaughtered 
Jonathan and 8aul, though the latter was a suicide, 
^yho would have been condemned in our days to 
" maim-ed rites," and "ground unsanctified," " with- 
out requiem" and the "bringing home of bell and 
burial." 

In honor of the dead, tlie ancient Jews rent their 
clothes, dressed in sackcloth and black, put ashes and 
dust on their heads, shaved their heads, removed their 
ornaments, diminished their temple offerings, went 
half naked, wept, wailed and fasted, beat tlieir breasts, 
lay ou the ground, and employed hired mourners. 
Customs like these are common throughout Asia at 
the present day, and in modified forms they exist 
throughout the world. They were not condemned 
by the great Author of Christianity. Ou the eve of 
his betrayal, when, in the house of Simon of Beth- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 225 

ail}', the gentle Mary, with impatieut haste, broke the 
beautiful alabaster casket and lavished its precious 
odors upon the person of her beloved master, the 
disciples were indignant at the costly waste, but 
Christ defended her devotion, saj'ing, " Let her alone ; 
she hath wrought a good work on me, she is come 
aforehand to anoint my body to the burying!" 

The devoted Arimathean sepulchered the body of 
Jesus with every honor that night and secrecy would 
allow, and the Marys prepared spices and ointments 
with which to embalm the sacred remains of the 
revered Master. Of the first Christian martyr it is 
recorded, " Devout men carried Stephen to his burial, 
and made great lamentation over him." From these 
Scripture examples we infer that it is not unchristian 
to honor the dead ; that tears, lamentations, weeds of 
woe, and words of eulogy are alike in the order of 
nature and the order of God, sanctioned by universal 
custom and not forbidden by the Christian religion. 

It is true that Christianity, by its genius, inculcates 
moderation in grief, economy in expenditure, and 
truthfulness in eulogy. We need not beat our 
breasts and tear our hair or howl like savages. We 
need not lavish such sums upon monuments and 
mausoleums as to require penal restrictions like the 
ancient Greeks. We need uot use such words of 
fulsome adulation, lying eulogy and panegyric as 
have been the custom with other countries and 
other ages. We need not make a wholesale applica- 



226 LlXCOZy MEMORIAL. 

tion of the motto, "De mortuis nil nisi l)ouum," 
concerning the dead say nothing but good, but we 
may and slionld bury our dead with a suital^le amount 
of that respect that has been shown to the dead in all 
ages and countries. It is this attention to the dead 
tliat distinguishes man from the animal races, that 
vindicates his claim to superior reason in this life and 
points to immortality. 

Honors paid to the dead are a stimulus to every 
one so to live as to deserve eulogy at his death. It 
was a wholesome custom, that of some of our Indian 
tribes, not to bury a man unless somebody could say 
something good of him. It was a fearful curse, that 
of Jehovah upon Jehoiakim king of Judah. "The}- 
shall not lament for him, saying Ah, my brother! Ah, 
Lord 1 or. Ah, his glory! He shall be buried with 
the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the 
gates of Jerusalem." 

Eulogies after death will avail nothing unless we 
have deserved them while living. The best of eulo- 
gies is a good life. It is impossible to cover up a bad 
life with a speech at a funeral or a lying epitaph. It 
may not be said of us "a great man and a prince hath 
fallen," but it may be said by every passer b}-, this is 
the grave of a good man. Character is immortal. It 
dies not, it will not lie down in the ground. Ghosts 
in graveyards is an exploded superstition, but, about 
the costly obelisks of the cities of the dead, springing 
up in the green wood, in the suburbs of every city 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 227 

and village, reputations flit, like troubled ghosts 
about the shores of Styx and Acheron in the ancient 
Hades. 

To-day we are a nation of mourners. The liorror 
that brooded over our liearts like a pall of hell's own 
weaving, as the telegraph winged over the land the 
news of the assassination, has given place to grief and 
tears. 

On Wednesday last, at high noon, the people of the 
United States assembled in their places of worship to 
celebrate the funeral sei'vices of their murdered Chief. 
Never before was such universal and spontaneous 
homage paid to the memory of mortal. Never before 
were so many millions gathered at the same hour to 
honor the obsequies of one man. The funerals of 
other daj's have been celebrated piecemeal or as an 
after thought. Here, thanks to the telegraph, our 
entire nation stood around the bier and over the open 
coflin of our common head. And that wonderful 
funeral procession ! to reach, without figure, from the 
capital of the nation to the capital of Illinois, — six- 
teen hundred miles ! When did the world ever before 
witness such a funeral cortege ! It is true, only the 
hearse with nine cars flies along the rails, but every- 
where, from citj' and hamlet, mountain, vale and prai- 
rie, it raises and carries along with it a mighty tide 
wave of mourning humanit}'. Everywhere it rolls 
through an avenue walled on either side with silent 
crowds, uncovered, unsurging, tearful ; its approach 



228 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

heralded and its departure signaled by tolling hells 
and booming cannon. By day it flies through cities 
and villages covered with weeds of woe, and by night, 
flaming torches mark its course and show the tears 
glittering like blood drops on the bronzed cheeks of 
rural populations. Everywhere flags at half mast, 
dirges by martial bands, and recjuiems at the stations 
sung b}- young men and maidens. P^verywhere 
weeping and eulogies, music and flowers. Was there 
ever such attendance upon the relics of one not regally 
born ? It is a nation's tribute to a citizen ruler whose 
firmness and integrity, quaint shrewdness and blunt 
common sense have carried it through a terrible crisis 
in its historj- and given libert}- to millions. 

The nation is right in paying the highest funeral 
honors to our late departed Chief Magistrate. We 
owe it to our national self respect. Shall the head of 
the family, the father, the Saviour of the nation die, 
and tlie children not mourn ? 

The nation thus repiroves crime. Slavery, secession, 
treason, assassination, barbarism, stand aghast in the 
presence of this sublime outburst of national sorrow. 
The bloody corpse of Lucretia expelled the Tarquins 
from Rome. The bloody fragments of the murdered 
wife of a Levite thrilled all Israel with horror, and 
they well-nigh exterminated the tribe of Benjamin for 
abetting the murder. The bloody corpse of our 
murdered chief, carried in solemn procession through 
the country, will leave in its funeral train the solemn 



LINCOLN MmiORIAL. 229 

purpose to visit vengeance upon traitors and treason. 
Bj these rites the nation honors goodness, honesty, 
integrity. Abraham Lincohr was not a church mem- 
ber, but he was a Christian and led a life of virtue and 
a life of prayer. He was the Christian head of a 
Christian nation, and deserves Christian burial. 

His sudden and tragical death has inspired the 
nation with mutual forbearance, sympathy, unity, 
fraternity. Political papers have moderated their 
acerbity. Opposing parties shake hands over the 
cofHn of their common father, and agree to bury past 
animosities and to stand nobly by his successor in this 
hour of trial. It is duo to the idiocy and malignity 
of human nature, that a few pitiful souls sjiit upon 
his bier, and trample on these universal weeds of 
mourning, but the grand record of history will be 
" A devout nation carried Abraham Lincoln to his 
burial, and made great lamentation over him." 

Substance of a Sermon Preached at the Unitarian 
Church. 

BY REV. EDGAR BUCKINGUAM. 

We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. 

Luke, xxiv, 21. 

We are not required by public proclamation, nor 

induced by general expectation to spend again our 

Sunday hour in lessons drawn directly from the death 

of the President. The hearts of the people are full 

with this single subject of thought, and it is well to 



230 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

continue our more careful consideration of it. I have 
drawn a text from the disappointment experienced by 
the veneration, the love and tenderness of the disci- 
ples, at the death of Jesus Christ. jSTot that a com- 
parison could be suggested with the Divine Master. 
The great hopes which are before us, and the pleasure 
we should have enjoyed in arriving at the fulfillment 
of them with him for our leader who has been our 
leader through the depths of our anxieties, call to 
mind peculiarly the sad disappointment of great hopes 
expressed in the language of the text. 

The minds of the people cannot fail to be long and 
deeply affected. From so lofty a position, such a sud- 
den removal ! So great responsibilities, so suddenly 
laid down ! Prospects so bright, to human view so sud- 
denly darkened ! The great dependence of the nation, 
so suddenly transferred to another, who had never 
expected to bear it! An event so sudden in private 
life, or to a man respected only for superior powers of 
mind, would have been fearfully impressive. If the 
President had been no more to us than a common 
statesman, or one only in the common line of the 
chief-magistracy, or if he had died wearied out 
with his great labors, after long sickness at the execu- 
tive mansion, the community would have been 
religiously impressed. How much more are we likely 
to be so, under the existing circumstances, and for 
such a man ! 
I do not mean to speak additional words of eulogy. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 231 

But few meu in public station have ever inspired so 
much confidence and secured so much attachment 
and love. We cast about in our minds, to study into 
the feelings -with which he has affected us. Promi- 
nent among the influences with which his exalted life 
and churaeter have wrought upon us, seems this: — in 
his justice, he made integrity seem more true. If, in 
the rivalships of the world, its covetousness, its over- 
reachings, its other various transgressions, we have 
ever indulged the common sentiment, that honesty 
was rare, or that it was feebly lived, or have felt that, 
perhaps, because it was rare, it had less intrinsic worth 
than nature or religion seemed to assign to it, we felt, 
on the other hand, that Mr. Lincoln was a living 
example of the value of it. Through him, it seemed 
to be gaining a new life for the world. The life of it, 
whicli he lived, outweighed in our minds the example 
of millions on the other side. In this way, he, with 
the broad bulwark of his personal character, . helped 
to sustain the general morality. Temptation has less 
power, honesty arrives at more honor, integrity holds 
a more substantial life. 

There circulates, we have found, through the public 
prints, some mention of professions or acknowledg- 
ments made by him, corresponding to the usual pro- 
fessions in the church, of religious faith or religious 
experience. Of the full truth of such accounts, or 
whether only partially or in some sense true, we have 
to-day and here no means of determining. But this 
30 



232 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

may be kiiuwu by all. A spirit of religion, not a 
conventional religiousness, not one artificial or imita- 
tive, but a simple, natural appeal to God, to his pre- 
sence and his law, we find underfiowing through all 
his conduct, and making its appearance in all his 
public writings. And such has been the impressive- 
ucss of his simplicity, and such is the confidence 
reposed in his truth, that thousands will become 
reverential and obedient through the influence of his 
public religiousness. 

In the homeliness of his conversation, the playful- 
ness of his talk has endeared him to people's hearts. 
Much as his jests have been questioned about, they 
have had a great value. They have showed to us that 
he was at home with himself, not acting a part. For 
though laughter is sometimes afteetcd, yet it is among 
the sincerest of all things ; and when it is not assumed 
for show, to secure applause, or made use of for ridi- 
cule or bitterness (and when it it is used for such 
purposes, its character is easily seen through), it is 
like sunrise on the brook, which proves that the ripples 
are not frozen, or flowers of the forest, that prove the 
richness of the soil. It cannot indeed he financially 
reckoned, or arithmetically, nor can the sweep of the 
swallow, or the chattering on the trees, which tell the 
beauty of the year and announce the sum'mer. !So in 
the nature of man, the overabundance of power in 
the ease of his work shows itself, at last, in playful- 
ness. When a friend smiles upon us, we know that 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 233 

he loves ns. The playful jests of the social circle 
reveal character. Formality and hj'pocrisy, art and 
concealment, they show to he at an end. They put 
people in natural i-elations; they unite them in cordial 
intimacies. And the homely conversation of our late 
President has enaljled the people to see him as a man of 
truth, not a mask ; not an abstraction, but a human 
being ; not an official magistrate, not an incarnation 
of diplomatic intrigue, or a state machine, but a man ; 
an honest man ; and a friend. 

if. :^ ^ ^ 1^ ^. if- 

The suddenness of the death of one so distinguished 
quickens our sense of the unsubstantial condition 
of earthly things ; it makes many highest earthly 
hopes seem of little importance. How many persons 
have paused, in the midst of daily occupations, this 
last week, in worldly ambitions and in household 
cares, seeming to think for a moment, 'all is worth- 
less.' His death has cheapened many things. How 
man}' affectations it has rebuked ! how many false 
desires it has unmasked ! how much of the love of 
power it has shaken ! how it has appeased the fever 
of the world ! How it has renewedly taught us, im- 
pressing the common thought, gain what you will, 
wealth, position, applause or opportunity, all will end. 
Your house you shall leave behind you ; your wealth, 
another shall spend ; your power you shall lay down 
in the grave ; you shall breathe out your last breath, 
and never breathe more. 



234 LINCOLN MEMOTtTA L. 

I3 life a lireath ? Is nothing abiding ? •' We are such 
stuff as dreams are made of, and our little life is 
rounded M-ith a sleep." Yes ; though substantial 
man seems to fade as doth a leaf, or like a cloud 
exhale, we rest, and we cannot fail to rest in the 
sense that there are realities. And though we do not 
find them where we thought to, yet to our feelings, 
never were the realities of existence more sure, more 
trusted in, mor* dear than now. Personal vices, 
moral conniption, the infidelity of the heart, the spirit 
of seljfishness, these have gained no new power. But 
a good life, a pure character, a loving spirit, appear 
more valuable, in the great acccjunt we make of the 
estimate of existence. Patriotism is real ; siuceritv 
is real ; goodness and love never seemed more real 
than now. The infinite distinction between right and 
wrong does not pass into the order of the insnbstan- 
tialities. Crime never was more abhorrent ; vice never 
was more repulsive. We love our kindred and our 
friends to-day, with a tenderer, truer love ; for true 
life and human souls appear possessed of a reality we 
uever so clearly saw in them before. Our own soul's 
existence, our immortal being, our sense of responsi- 
bility to the eternal Law, all that God has taught us 
of life and of Himself, these show themselves I'cal now. 
"We gaze, in spirit, through the opening, by which 
the departed rises to eternity, and worship l)efore 
the revelation of the throne of God. The music of 
angels breaks upon our ear. We return to daily 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 235 

occupations, if startled at unrealities here, comforted, 
strengthened, blessed in the sense of a universal and 
infinite reality. 

By this distinguished, sudden death, we are renew- 
edly impressed witli the sense of the superiority of 
the greatest virtues to men's appreciation, and the 
constant refusal of the world to receive and endui-e 
exalted worth. We have thought it mysterious in 
the providence of God, that martyrs must shed their 
blood as the seed of the church, and the precious life 
of the patriot be given for his country and humanity. 
Yet do not gaze at this common truth witli wonder, 
nor consider the appointment too hard, nor lament as 
inexplicable the danger of virtue, the persecution of 
the great and good. It seems the universal law, just, 
and sublime, and a part of nature's order. The soul 
tends to break through all mortal confines. ISTeither 
with the body, nor among mortal men does it find its 
most appropriate or final home. As it exerts itself 
more highly and laborious!}', see how thin becomes its 
fleshly covering. The thinker's eye is never that of 
the unthinking clown. The face illumined by love, 
sanctified by purity, impressed with holy and sublime 
resolution, shows to the world the power of the soul 
within. Xo artist can depict on canvass, or cut iu 
marble, or describe iu words the expression we be- 
hold. It is the soul. We recognize it; and stand 
awed at its power and its loveliness. The body can- 
not confine it, or cover and conceal it. 



236 Ln\COLN MEMOniAL. 

So men cannot, witli their continiiig, controllinir 
power, hold in the virtue that is too large tor hurauu 
comprehension. Thc}' hind it ; they resist its growth 
and expansion in the good man's soul and its influ- 
ence in the world, as the husk hinds in the tender 
leaf, the sprouting hrauches in the spring of tlie year. 
Men forhid advancement beyond their own. They 
seek to silence the free speech of patriotism and re- 
ligion, to prevent the thought even that reaches out 
beyond their knowledge and their view. Littleness 
is safe with them. It may be prosperous and honored. 
It is understood. The world, in looking at the com- 
mon thought and common virtue, sees what it sees, 
knows what it knows, and fears no danger from what 
it has long been acquainted with, whose limitations it 
understands, whose thought and power do not interfere 
with its ambitions, its possessions and its laleasures. 
But evei-y highest thought frightens it with fear of 
danger, even when the great man's thought is only 
doing it most good. So, reverently, Christ died what 
may be termed a natural death. Patriots and saints, 
before and since, bruise themselves against the world 
that surround them ; for the antagonism is natural 
and inevitable. 

And we ourselves, of humblest life, in every hum- 
blest duty, illustrate the same great law. The spirit 
too pure for earthly principles, consents to lircak 
through mortal barriers, to deny pleasure, to resist 
the world, to refuse honor, — the same law of suft'er- 



LINCOLN MEMOSIAL. 237 

i°o' — (if it ™ust be called by such, a uame) — the same 
law of sufFering in duty being everywhere met with, 
because earth and the world are too narrow for the 
soul. 

But do we lament the conditions? The buried 
seed bursts through into the darkness of earth and the 
soil, before it pushes its way above the superincum- 
bent clod, to rise to air and sunlight to grow in fresh- 
ness, life and beauty. 



Meeting of tue Concordia Society. 
Tlie Concordia society, a German literary and social 
union, met at their hall on River street for the pui-pose 
of commemorating the sad and untimely death of 
President Lincoln. The room which was filled with 
an attentive audience, was draped in mourning. Mr. 
Frank Hartsfeld, the president of the association, 
began the exercises of the evening with a few intro- 
ductory remarks, saying that as there were in the lives 
of individuals certain days more important than 
others, so in the lives of nations there were days dis- 
tinguished by great events. In the latter portion of 
the life of this nation two of the important days were 
the fourteenth of April, 1861, when Sumter fell and 
the war began, and that same day four years later, 
when the flag of our country was again raised over 
that redeemed fortress and the war was ended. This 
last day obtains even greater significance, from the 



238 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

fact that during its passing hours, Abraham Lincoln, 
the most distinguished of our citizens and the Presi- 
dent of this nation, was assassinated. 

Prof. P. H. Baermann, in a very forcible speech, 
urged his hearers to take warning fi'ora the past, and 
under all circumstances and on all occasions to record 
themselves on the side of right and humanity. lie 
spoke at length eoucorning the solution etiected by 
the war, of some of the most momentous difficulties in 
the problem of our national life. In referring to the 
event wbicli had stirred so deeply the hearts of the 
people, he said that although we had lost in Abraham 
Lincoln, one of the greatest men of his time, God in 
His providence had preserved his life long enough to 
see the end, virtually, of the rebellion and of the 
accui'sed institution of slavery. 

Short addresses were also made b}- the Rev. H. G. 
Salomon, Rev. Jonas Heilbron, and Mr. Henry 
Staude, after which the meeting was dissolved. 

MOXDAY, APRIL 24th, 1865. 

The proclamation of the President of the L'nited 
States, recoiumending to the nation the observance of 
a day of humiliation and mourning, forms a part of 
the history of the times, and is here presented 

Proclamation by the President 

Whereas, By my direction, the acting secretary of 
state, in a notice to the public on the seventeenth of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 239 

April, requested the various religious deuominatious 
to assemble on the nineteenth of April, on the occa- 
sion of the obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, late Presi- 
dent of the United States, and to observe the same 
vpith appropriate ceremonies ; and 

M'hi'vcas, Our country has become one great house 
of mourning, where the head of the family has been 
taken away, and believing that a special period should 
be assigned for again humbling ourselves before 
Almighty God, in order that the bereavement may be 
sanctified to the nation ; 

ISfow, therefore, in order to mitigate that grief on 
earth which can only be assuaged by communion with 
the Father in heaven, and in compliance with the wishes 
of senators and representatives in congress, commu- 
nicated to me liy a resolution adopted at the national 
Capitol, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, do hereby appoint Thursday, the twenty -fifth 
day of May next, to be observed wherever in the 
United States the flag of the country may be respect- 
ed as a day of humiliation and mourning, and I 
recommend my fellow citizens then to assemble in their 
respective places of worship, there to unite in solemn 
service to Almighty God, in memory of the good 
man who has been removed, so that all shall be occu- 
pied at the same time in contemplation of liis virtues, 
and sorrow for his sudden and violent end. 

In witness wliereof, I have hereunto set my hand 
and caused the seal of the United States to be afSxed. 
31 



240 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Done at the city of Wasliiugtoii, the twentj'-fourth 

day of Ajn-il, in the year of our Lord one thousand 

eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the independence 

of the United States the eighty-ninth. 

By the President: 

Andrew Johnson. 

W. Hunter, Acting Secretary of State.* 
Common Council Proceedings. 

Special Meeting. 

Uonday, April '2Wi, 1865. 

3Iemhers present : — Hon. Uri Gilhert, mayor; Hon. 
John Moran, recorder, and Aldermen Cox, Fales, 
Fitzgerald, Hay, Hislop, Haiglit, HaiTity, Kemp, I\Ic- 
Manus, Morris, Prentice, Stanton, Smart, Starbuck, 
Seal's, Stannard. 

The mayor stated that lie had received an invitation 
from the Alban\- common council for the board to 
take part in the obsequies of the late President 
Lincoln, on Wednesday next ; that he had communi- 
cated with the authorities at Albany, and tendered an 
invitation, as requested, to Col. McConihe, of the 
twenty-fourth regiment, which had been accepted. 
He had called the Ijoard together to take further 
action. 

On motion of the recorder, the invitation of the 

*Tlie first day of June was afterwards substitultd for the dav 
recommended in this proclamation. 



LINCOLN MEMOBIAL. 241 

Albany commou council was accepted, and a com- 
mittee of five was appointed to make arrangements for 
the board to attend the funeral. Aldermen Kemp, 
McManus, Morris, Prentice and Hay were appointed 
as such committee. Major Gilbert was added to the 
committee, to extend invitations to any distinguished 
guests whom it might be desirable to invite. 

On motion of Alderman Starbuck, the mayor was 
desired to request citizens to close their places of 
business from twelve to four o'clock on Wednesday 
next. 

Then, on motion, the board adjonrned. 

James S. Thorn, City Clerk. 

The Guard of Honor. 

Officers who have served in the war, with those at 
present in the service, and private soldiers who have 
taken part in putting down the rebellion, are to form 
a guard of honor next Wednesday at the obsequies. 
The Albany officers held a meeting, this morning, 
and resolved to invite Troy officers and soldiers to 
take part with them. All who accept the invitation 
are requ.ested\o meet at the City Hall, Albany, on 
Wednesday, at ten a. m. Officers to appear in full 
dress uniform, and side arms. 



242 LiyCOLS ME.)fOIiIAL. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 25th, 18G5. 

Ill accordaiioe with the request of the common 
council, set forth in their proceedings on the twenty- 
fourth instant, the ma3-or of the city published the 

following 

Announcement. 

To the Citizens of Troy : 

In respect for the memory of tlio illustrious dead, 
whose obsequies will take place in our neighboring 
city of Albany, on Wednesday, April twenty-sixtli, 
our citizens are respectfully requested to display the 
visual emblems of mourning, and to close tlieir places 
of business from twelve to four o'clock on that day. 
Uki Gilbert, Mayor. 

Troy, April 2oth, 1865. 

Invitation. 

Hkad Qrs., 24th Kegt., N. Y. S. N. G., [ 
Troi/, Aj}ril2b,lS(i5. ) 

The commissioned officers of returned regiments, 
together with all officers of the army and navy in this 
city and vicinity are cordially invited to accomiiany 
this regiment to Albany to-morrow. Those so desir- 
ing will please report at the colonel's quarters, regi- 
mental armory, at nine o'clock a. m. 

I. McCoNiiiE Jr., Colonel. 

G. G. Moore, Adjutant. 



LINCOLJV MEMORIAL. 243 

Proceedings of the Executive Committee of the 
Troy rouNG Men's Association. 

Special Meeting. 

Troi), April 25ih, 18(35. 

Present — Clarence Willard, Esq., president, in the 
chair, and the following members : Henry Galusha, 
Wm. W. Rousseau, J. Spencer Garnsey, T. Henry 
Bnssey, Josiah L. Young, Martin L. Hollister, Geo. 
C. Baldwin Jr., Jas. S. Thorn, H. C. Folger, J. E. 
Schoonmaker, Wra. E. Gilbert, Benj. D. Benson. 

The President stated the object of the meeting to 
be, to take action on an invitation which had been 
received from the Albany Young Men's Association 
to our association, to take part in the obsequies of the 
late President Lincoln at Albany. 

Mr. Galusha moved that the president appoint a 
committee of as many members of the executive com- 
mittee as could attend the obsequies, to represent the 
association. This motion was adopted. 

The president appointed Wm. E. Gilbert chairman 
of said committee, with authority to select his asso- 
ciates from the members of the executive committee. 

On motion, adjourned. 

T. Henry Bussey, Rec. Sec'y. 



244 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Meetinu of Veteran Officers. 

At a meeting- of the veteran officers lield at the 
Mansion House, on Tuesday evening, the meeting was 
organized hy calling to the chair Maj. Joseph Egolf 
and the appointment of Capt. Thomas B. Eaton as 
secretary-. Maj. Egolf stated the object of the meeting. 

Capt. McConihe oftered the following resolution, 
which was adopted : 

Resolved, That we, the old officers of the volunteer 
army and navy, fully s^nnpatliize with the pulilic in 
the death of our lamented President, and that we 
ajipcar m a body at the obsequies at Albany on the 
twenty-sixth instant. 

An invitation was presented from the adjutant of 
the twenty-fourth regiment to the veteran officers of 
Troy and vicinity, to accompany said regiment to 
Albany and return on the steamer Vanderbilt. On 
motion their invitation was accepted, and Capt. Eaton 
was instructed to inform the adjutant of the fact. On 
motion. 

Resolved, That the veteran officers of Troy and 
vicinity Ije requested to wear the usual badge of 
mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That all the vetei'au officers of the army 
and n.'ivy in Troy and vicinity, not present at this 
meeting, be requested to participate in the obsequies 
of the late President, and that all veteran officers who 
design to join in the solemnities of the da}' be requested 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 245 

to meet at the armory of the twenty-fourth regiment 
at half past eiglit o'clock to-morrow morning, in full 
uniform so far as possible. 

Resolced, That the proceedings of this meeting be 
published. 

Maj. Joseph Egolf, Chairman. 
Capt. T. B. Eaton, Secretary. 

Officers' Meeting. 

At a meeting of the discharged and present officers 
in the city, convened for the purpose of paying the 
last tribute of respect to the remains of the late Presi- 
dent, a motion was made and unanimously adopted, 
generally inviting the officers and enlisted men of the 
city of Troy and elsewhere to participate. 

William E. White, late Capt. 43d N". Y. 

WEMTESDAY, APRH. 26th, 1865. 

An Account of the Participation of Citizens of 
Troy in the Obsequies of Abraham Lincoln, at 
Albany. 

The funeral train conveying the remains of the 
lamented President reached Albany at eleven o'clock 
on the evening of the twenty-fifth of April. Es- 
corted by an immense and imposing procession, the 
coffin was borne to the Capitol, where, at half past one 



246 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

o'clock oil the moruing of this day, it was opened, and 
the dead features of Abraham Lincoln were exposed to 
the reverent gaze of thousands. From tliis time 
imtil two o'clock in the afternoon, a guard of Imuor 
surrounded the coffin in conjunction with the militaiy 
companies detailed for special service on this occasion. 
The body lay in state in the Assembly Chamber, 
which was tastefully draped, and from the floor of 
which the desks and chairs had been removed. In 
the centre of the space thus made, was a dais covered 
with black cloth beautifully festooned, and adorned 
with heavy silver mountings. Upon this dais the coffin 
was placed. The military companies, three in number. 
Avere on guard alternately, tin' two honi's each. The 
guard of honor was competed oi tlie officers named in 
the following order : 

Guard of Honor. 

Head Quarters Districts of Northern 
AND Western New York. 

Albany, April 25, 18G5. 

The following officers have been detailed as a Guard 
of Honor to the remains of the late President of the 
United States :— 

First Watch — 12 ji. till 3 a. m. Brigadier General 
John F. Rathbone, Colonel B. F. Baker, Colonel 
W. H. Young, Colonel J. -J. De Forrest, Colonel K. 
C. Beutley, Major W. C. Beardsley. 

Second Watch — 3 a. m. till 6 a.m. Brio-adier Gen- 



LTXCOLW MEMORIAL. 247 

eral Darius Allen, Colonel Ira Ainsworth, Colonel 
A. S. Baker, Colonel C. S. Peak, Colonel John 
Hastings, Lieutenant Colonel Clias. H. Thompson. 

Third Watch — 6 A. m. till 9 a. m. Brevet Colonel 
Frederick Townsend, Major H. C. Pratt, Major 
George Poineroy, Brevet Major II. A. Swartwout, 
Captain F. P. Muhlenberg, Captain George H. 
"Weeks. 

Fourth Watch — 9 a. m. till 12 M. Major General 
John T. Cooper, Colonel James Hendrick, Colonel 
Charles Strong, Colonel George Beach, Captain M. 
L. Norton, Assistant Surgeon James H. Armsby. 

Fifth Watch — 12 m. till 2 p. m. Major General T. 
R. Pratt, Colonel J. B. Stonehouse, Colonel B. C. 
Gilbert, Colonel S. E. Marvin, Colonel M. A. Far- 
rell. Major John Manly. 

Jno. C. Robinsox, Brev. Major General. 

The preparations in Troy, which had been in pro- 
gress several days, for attending the obsequies at 
Albany, were renewed at an early hour this moru- 
int"-. Soon after nine o'clock the Twenty-fourth Regi- 
ment, ISTew York State National Guard, formed on 
First street, its right resting on Congress street. The 
Held, statf and line officers of this regiment were as 
follows : 

Colonel, Isaac McConihe Jr. ; Lieutenant Colonel, 
John I. Le Roy ; Major, George T. Steenbergh ; Sur- 
geon, Le Roy McLean ; Chaplain, Rev. Henry C. Pot- 
32 



248 LTXCOLX MEJrom.lL. 

ter; Engineer, Captain Martin Payne ; Adjutant, Gur- 
don G. Moore ; Quartermaster, Henry S. Church ; Assist- 
ant Surgeon, Xathan H. Camp. 

Co. A. — Captain, John M. Landon ; Lieutenants, 
Henry A. Merritt, William A. Daniels: Junior 
Second Lieutenant, James E. Curran, commanding 
battery. 

Co.B. — Captain, William F. Caldor; Lieutenants, 
Charles E. Hawley, Gabriel T. Winne. 

Co. G. — Captain, James W. Cnsack; Lieutenants, 
Gunhm G. Wolfe, John M. Cary. 

Co. F. — Captain, John H. Quackenbush ; Lieu- 
tenants, Wallace F. Bullis, Ezra E. Vail. 

Co. E. — Captain, Michael Timpaue ; Lieutenants, 
William O'Brien, Patrick Couners. 

Co. B. — Captain, Timothy McAulifte ; First Lieu- 
tenant, John Duke ; Second Lieutenant, vacant. 

Co. I. — Captain, Moses A. TJphara ; Lieutenants, 
John ^Myers, Michael Riley. 

Co. J).— Captain, L Seymour Scott; Lieutenants, 
Sidney T. Cary, Minott A. Thomas. 

Co. C. — Captain, Edward A. Ives; Lieuteuants, 
George S. Thompson, Le Grand Cramer. 

Co. A". — Captain, Christian W. Rapp; Lieutenants, 
Albert E. Berger, Philip Dorr. 

The regiment numbered seven hundred and twelve 
men, rank and file, and its fine appearance elicited 
the comment and admiration of all. Preceded by the 
regimental baud, under the the direction of Charles 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 249 

Doriug, aud the drum corps of Henry Perkins, it 
marched up First street to the wharf at the foot of 
Broadway, whence at ten o'clock it embarked for 
Albany on board the steamboat Vanderbilt, which had 
been chartered by the city for the occasion. On the 
same boat, as tlie guests of the twenty-foui'th regi- 
' meut, were nearly thirty veteran officers who had seen 
service in the held, and who were commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Charles E. Brintnall ; besides officers 
of other regiments that had served or were now serv- 
ing in the war, together with representatives of the 
navy service. By the same conveyance a number of 
the members of the Troy Young Men's Association 
proceeded to Albany to take part in the services of the 
day. The rest of the company on board consisted of 
members of the press and a few specially invited 
guests, the whole number of civilians being about two 
hundred. 

The battery of the twenty-fourth regiment, consist- 
ing of four brass howitzers with their caissons com- 
plete, under the command of Lieutenant James E. 
Curran, of the artillery company A, went by the 
road to Albany. 

The mayor and common council and the board of 
fire commissioners of the city, together with the 
board of supervisors of Rensselaer county proceeded 
to Albany in carriages. The members of the Loyal 
League and the fire companies and other civic associa- 
tions, besides hundreds of citizens not connected 
with any organization, went by rail. 



250 LIXCOLN MEMOniAL. 

On reaching Albany the twenty-fourth regiment 
was met at Columbia street wharf, by the twenty-iifth 
regiment, X. Y. S. N. G., commanded by Col. Walter S. 
Church, and having formed on South Broadway, was 
escorted to its position on Eagle street in the line of 
the forming procession. The city and county officials 
were received at the maj'or's office in the City Halb 
by the mayor of Albany- and a committee of the Albany 
common council. To other organizations appi'opriate 
places were assigned iu the funeral cortege. Most 
of the civilians wore badges designating them as the 
Rensselaer county delegation. 

At two o'clock p. M. the procession began to move 
in the following order: 

Advance of Police Force. 

Gen. Rathbone's Brigade of the New York State 

National Guard, composed of the tenth, 

twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth 

regiments, constituting the Local Military Guard. 

The Washington Military Escort. 

OflScers accompanying the remains. 

Officers of the Army and Navy of the United States. 

Major General John Tayler Cooper and Staff, and other 

Officers of the National Guard. 

Ex-Officers of United States Volunteers. 

The Congressional and other delegates accompanying the 

remains. 

Pall Bearers — l^eursc — Pall Bearers. 

The Governor and Staff, Lieutenant Governor. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 251 

State Officers and Judges of the Court of Appeals. 

Members of the Senate and Assembly. 

The Albany Burgesses Corps. 

The Mayor and Common Council and Officials of the City 

and County of Albany. 

The Mayor and Common Council of the City of Troy, and 

Officials and Citizens of neighboring 

Cities and Counties. 

Citizens of Albany. 

Board of Trade. 

Young Men's Associations of Albany, Troy and West Troy. 

German Literary Society. 

Officers and members of the Albany Institute. 

St. Andrew's Society. 

St. George's Society. 

Fenian Brotherhood. 

Hibernian Provident Society. 

Beaverwyck Club. 

Typographical Union. 

Union League of Albany, Troy and other places. 

Iron Moulders' Union. 

St. Peter's Society. 

Brother Band. 

St. Joseph's Society. 

City Philanthropic Grove, No. 5, Order of Druids. 

Schiller Grove, No. 4, Order of Druids. 

William Tell Lodge. 

Harmony Lodge, No. 12, Order of Harugarie. 

Free Brother Lodge, No. 6, Order of Harugarie. 

Bethust Society. 

German Brothers Association. 



LTXCOLX ME.VORTAL. 

Albany Turner Vcrein. 

Independent Order oF Odd Fellows. 

The Fire Department of the City of Albany. 

Fire companies of neighboring Cities and Towns. 



The military moved in phttoons, with solenui tread, 
their arms reversed, and formed one of tlie principal 
features in the imposing display. 

The route of the procession was as follows: From 
State street, on which the main line was formed, up 
State street to Dove street, through Dove street to 
Washington avenue, down the avenue to State street, 
down State street to Xorth Broadway, and thence to 
the Central rail road crossing. 

At this point the remains of the late President were 
placed in the hearse car, and the funeral train resumed 
its westward course. The civic procession returned 
to State street, where it was dismissed. A few minutes 
later the twenty-fourth regiment was returning to 
Troy on the Yanderbilt. On reaching this city at five 
o'clock, the regiment proceeded to the Court House 
in front of which a dress parade took place, in the 
presence of the mayor and common council. The fol- 
lowing order was then read by the adjutant aid soon 
after the regiment was dismissed. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 253 

Order of the National Guard. 

Head Qrs. 24tii Reot., N. Y. S. N. G., I 
Troi/, April 2Mi, 1865. J 

General Order No. 13. 

The colonel commanding, on behalf of this com- 
mand, tenders his thanks to Col. Walter S. Church 
and his fine regiment, the Twenty-fifth N. Y. S. jST. G., 
for a proper escort and other attentions and courte- 
sies while this regiment wa.s in Albany to-day ; also 
to his honor the mayor, and common couricil of 
Troy, for generous cooperation ; and to Cliief of 
Police Barron, for eflieient service, in Albany and 
Troy. By order, 

I. McCoNiHE Jr., 

Colonel Commanding. 
G. G. Moore, Adjutant. 

In sympathy with tlie solemn and imposing cere- 
monies at Albany, the day was observed in Troy by 
an almost total suspension of business. No church 
services were held, but with this exception the mani- 
festations of sorrow and respect were similar to those 
apparent on the day of the funeral at Washington. 
It was estimated that not less than five thousand of 
the citizens of Troy were present at the obsequies 
solemnized at the capital of the state of New York. 
A mourning such as was this, was never before wit- 
nessed on this continent, and the days which intervened 
between the morning of that fatal Saturday when the 
announcement was made that Abraham Lincoln was 



254 LINCOLN MEMOIilAL. 

dead and the close of tliis day, \\\\\ be remcniLered 
L\' all, as the most notable, in many respects, of the 
passing centnry. 



THURSDAY, APRIL, 27th, 1865. 

Resolutions of the Troy Young Men's Association. 

At a reguhxr meeting of the executive committee 
of the Troy Young Men's Association, held at their 
rooms, on the evening of the twenty-seventh of April, 
1865, on motion of Mr. Benj. D. Beuson, it was 

Besoked, that a committee he appointed with Mr. 
James S. Thorn as chairman, to draft resolutions in 
regard to the late President of the United States. 

The chair appointed Mr. Benj. D. Benson and ^Ir. 
Wm. E. Gilbert on such committee. Subse(iuently 
the committee, through their chairman, reported the 
following preamble and resolutions, which were unan- 
imously adopted. 

In joining our voice of lamentation to the mourning 
wail that is rising from a continent, we only wish to 
swell by a single note the solemn chorus that comes 
from hearts desolated by a crushing blow. Yet as 
young men, members of a literary association, we deem 
it not inappropriate to record our iirofound participa- 
tion in the common sorrow, and to testily that the 
gloom is not only general, but universal. Therefore 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 255 

Resolved, That in the assassinatiou of our beloved 
President, the late Abraham Lincoln, we see the last 
dying relic of a fell spirit which, subdued on the battle 
field, seeks to gain its end by means at which tlie 
spirit of the age must shudder. And yet in the 
universal execration with which the deed has been 
received, we recognize the impulse of a virtuous man- 
hood which time cannot lessen, nor barbarism destroy. 
Resolved, That in the spread of free institutions, and 
in the increase of societies such as ours, we shall find 
the surest guaranties of peace, order and happiness, 
amid which, society, created anew, shall never more 
know a parricidal deed. Then shall this tragic blot 
upon America's fair fame be succeeded by unending 
years of tranquility, till the present generation passes 
from the stage of action, and the oblivion of the future 
swallows the very names of the assassins of to-day. 

FEtDAT, APRIL 28th, 1865. 
Decline of Amusements. 

BYT. B. HUBBELL. 

Since the death of the President, public amusements 
have been at a discount. Li New York the theatres 
have reopened, but the audiences have been very 
slim. Traveling bands of minstrels, concert people, 
etc., etc., say they never experienced such a lack of 
patronage, and it seems impossible for them to 
33 



256 LINCOLN ME}fOmAL. 

reestablish tlieir old-time magnetism with tin.' great 
public. Ill this oity — not by any means backward, 
usually, in patronizing amusements — the halls here- 
tofore nightly filled and often crowded, are well 
nigh deserted, no matter what the attraction. 

This is to be taken as an evidence of the real sober- 
ness of the public mind at the present juncture. Men 
and women feel the country is under a deep cloud. 
The future is dark and uncertain. In place of craving 
diversion, there is a proneness to reflection, quiet 
consultation with friends, and even absolute seclusion. 
"We shall doubtless soon recover from all this. Our 
people are so volatile and recuperative, it would be 
strange if we did not — unless indeed fresh sources of 
sorrow are opened. These, if not really anticipated, 
are more or less apprehended. 

There has been a great deal of ostentation, a great 
deal of afiected grief, over the national calamity ; but 
it is doubtless true that the event, more than anv other 
known to our national history, has caused deep, heart- 
felt and abiding sorrow, and it is a sorrow which as 
3'et I'efuses to be comforted. — Troi/ Dailij Press. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 29tii, 18G5. 

Proclamation by the President. 

Whereas, By ni}- proclamation of the twent3--fifth 
inst., Thursday, the twenty-fifth day of the next month, 
was recommended as a clay for special humiliation aud 



LINCOLN 3IEM0RIAL. 257 

prayer, in consequence of the assassination of Abra- 
ham Lincohi, hite President of the United States; but 

Whereas, My attention has been called to the fact 
that the day aforesaid is sacred to a large number of 
Christians as one of rejoicing ; 

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew John- 
son, President of the United States, do hereby suggest 
that the religious services recommended as aforesaid, 
should be postponed until Thursday, the first day of 
June next. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my baud, 

and caused the seal of the United States to be aifixed. 

Done at the City of Washington, this twenty-ninth 

day of April, A. D. 1865, and of the Inde- 

[l. s.] pendenee of the United States of America the 

eighty-ninth. 

By the President, Andrew Johnson. 

W. Hunter, Acting Secretary of State. 

THE MONTH OF MAY, 1865. 
"To Everytiiincj there is a Season." 

BY JAMES 3. THORN. 

Correspondents are asking us how soon it would be 
proper to remove the mourning emblems from the 
streets. When we recollect how deep and heartfelt 
has been the sorrow, and how profuse its outward 
expression, we think its effect would rather be les- 
sened by continuing these manifestations for any 



258 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

longer period. Abraham Lincoln has been mourned 
as few men were ever before thus honored in the his- 
tory of the world. Mammon has forgotten the pur- 
suit of wealth, and pleasure has assumed a sober mein. 
Men who opposed him while living have become the 
champions of his memorj- when dead. Not onlj- have 
the good elements of society done him honor, but 
even the volatile and the rougher portions have 
seemed to appreciate the magnitude of the tragedy. 
But one of the chief teachings of the terrible event is 
the lesson that the life of the American republic does 
not depend upon the existence of any one leader. "We 
lament liim, but the next in order takes his place, and 
even he is but the representative man temporarily 
placed at the helm of state. So while we mourn 
Abraham Lincoln, dead, we must recollect that the 
President can never die. At the commencement of 
the third week since tlie great tragedy, no one can 
accuse any community of a lack of feeling, if the 
streets resume their ordinary appearance ; and it has 
been well suggested that such of the mourning cloth 
as can be made available, be given to the poor. — IVoy 
Bail)/ Times, May 1st. 

A Dirge on the Death of Abraham Lincoln. 

BY JOSIAH L. TorNG. 

Rest, thy noble work is done : 
Sleep among the hallowed dead : 
Golden buds encrown thy head, 
Evermore. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 259 

Distant far from mortal rage, 
From the envy of thy power, 
Perfect triumph is thy dower. 
Evermore. 

No more sorrow, no more pain. 
Sleepless nights nor days of toil : 
Safe, above the rude turmoil, 
Evermore. 

Costly tears are shed for thee, 
Envy dareth not to rave, 
Millions bend above thy grave. 
Evermore. 

Weep, oh sobbing nation, weep ! 
Hallowed sunshine guards his rest, 
Cradled in the golden West, 
Evermore. 

He is thine, thy chosen son. 
Naught can rob thee of his fame, 
Naught can dim his deathless name, 
Evermore. 

Down the ages it will glow 
Mid the shining stars of time, 
Paling those of every clime. 
Evermore. 

None, through all the peopled past, 
Has been loved like thee, save one, 
He, the blessed Virgin's son, 
Sacred evermore. 

No such sepulchre as thine. 
Greener for a Nation's tears, 



260 LTXCOLX MEMOniAL. 

Green tliroughout a tlious;ind years, 
To the outmost flank of time. 
Sleep, impassive silence reign ! 
No assassin can invade 
Where thy precious dust is laid, 
Evermore. 

Bloom, oh prairie, verdure sweet I 
All your rare redundance spread. 
Sprinkling perfume o'er his head, 
Evermore. 

Troi/ Dally Whi\/, May 2(L 



LIXCOLN AND CICERO. 

BV B. n. HALL. 

Tlie juxtaposition of tlu'sc two names nia}' excite a 
smile ill tliose who do not at tlie first thought perceive 
anything in common in tlie life or character of the 
Roman orator and the American ruler. In fact one 
would be apt to think that their names could only be 
brought together save for the sake of contrast. It is 
true, doubtless, that tlie diti'erences betAvoen them are 
more marked than the similarities, still there are 
points of resemblance, and to these we desire to call 
attention. Cicero died by violence, so did Lincoln. 
Cicero was slain by the hands of traitors. Lincoln 
was the victim of treason. The manner of their death 
was different but equally affecting. On hearing that 
he had been proscribed, Cicero sought safety in flight. 
As his servants were carrying him in his litter or port- 



LINCOLlSf MEMORIAL. 261 

able chair, the soldiers appeared. His servants pre- 
pared to fight, but Cicero commanded them to set 
him down and to make no resistance. " Then looking 
upon his executioners," as says Middletou in his Life of 
Cicero, "with a presence and firmness, which almost 
daunted them, and thrusting his neck, as forwardly as 
he could, out of the litter, he bade them do their work 
and take what they wantdd, upon which they presently 
cut ofl" his head and both his hands." The sad story 
of Mr. Lincoln's assassination is too fresh in our minds 
to require a repetition. 

The world has been moved as never before, wliere- 
ever a spark of civilization glows, with sympatliy at 
the loss we have sustained. Governments of all kinds, 
whether republican or monarchical, limited as to the 
power of the ruler or autocratical, Protestant or Ro- 
man Catholic, obeying the laws of Mahomet or based 
on Lidian superstitions — all have evinced their horror 
at and declared their detestation of the fearful crime. 
Time will not weaken the impression. As the full 
antecedent history of the foul transaction becomes 
known, the terrible meaning of the act of assassina- 
tion will appear, and after ages will recognize the 
fact as proved beyond cavil, that the blow which 
struck down their leader was intended for the heart of 
a free people. Already has the place where the deed 
was done become marked with an interest heretofore 
uuimagiued of any locality in our land. Already 
has the city named from the Father of his country 



262 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

become sacred as the place where fell time's uoblest 
and latest martyr for Liberty and Truth. Aud so was 
it measurably with Cicero. The story of his death 
continued fresh in the minds of the Romans for many 
ages after the event and was delivered down to pos- 
terity with all its circumstances, as one of the most 
affecting and memorable of their history. The spot on 
which he was slain became famous, and was visited 
by travelers with a kind of religious reverence and awe. 
But it is to the similarity between these two illustri- 
ous men, in certain traits of character, we desire to call 
particular attention. The language of the historian 
already alluded to, concerning Cicero's ideas of friend- 
ship,applieswith equal force to Lincoln : "He entertain- 
ed very high notions of friendship, and of its excellent 
use and benefit to human life. In all the variety of 
friendships in which his eminent rank engaged him, 
he was never charged with deceiving, deserting, or 
even slighting any one, whom he had once called his 
friend, or esteemed an honest man." So too did Lin- 
coln resemble Cicero in his kindness to his enemies. 
The record which is left of the latter, on this point, is 
equally true of the former : " He was not more gener- 
ous to his friends, than placable to his enemies, readily 
pardoning the greatest injuries, upon the slightest 
submission ; and though no man ever had greater 
abilities or opportunities of revenging himself, yet 
when it was in his power to hurt, he sought out 
reasons to forgive, and whenever he was invited to it, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 263 

never declined a reconciliation with his most inveter- 
ate enemies, of which there are numerous instances in 
his history. He declared nothing to be more laudable 
and worthy of a great man, than placability, and laid 
it down for a natural duty, to moderate our revenge, 
and observe a temper in punishing ; and held repent- 
ance to be a sufficient ground for remitting it." As 
Cicero once said of himself so may it with equal truth 
be said of Lincoln, that his enmities were mortal, his 
friendships immortal. 

In one other trait of character — a trait the posses- 
sion and manifestation of which has brought upon 
Lincoln the slander of being a ribald jester — namely, 
that of pleasantrj' in conversation ; in this characteris- 
tic did Lincoln especially resemble the great Roman. 
In the quaint language of Middleton, from whom 
citations have already been made, we give the picture 
of the humorous side of Cicero's life, and find in it 
much to remind us of him whose " little story " has 
grown a proverb. He was " of a nature remarkably 
facetious, and singularly turned to raillery, a talent, 
which was of great service to him at the bar, to correct 
the petulance of an adversary, relieve the satiety of a 
tedious cause, divert the minds of the judges, and 
mitigate the rigor of a sentence, by making both the 
bench and audience merry at the expense of the 
accuser. 

" This use of it was always thought fair, and greatly 
applauded in public trials, but in private conversa- 
34 



2G4 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

tions, he was charged sometimes witli jmshiiig his 
raillery too far, and, through a consciousness of his 
superior wit, exerting it often iuteniperateiy, without 
reflecting what cruel wounds his lashes inflicted. Yet 
of all his sarcastical jokes, which are transmitted to 
us by antiquity, we shall uot observe any, but what 
were pointed against characters, either ridiculous or 
profligate, such as he despised for their follies, or 
hated for their vices; and though he might provoke 
the spleen, and quicken the malice of enemies, more 
than was consistent with a regard to his own ease, 
yet he never appears to have hurt or lost a friend, or 
an\- one whom he valued, by the levity of jesting. 

"It is certain that the fame of his ^\■it was as cele- 
brated as that of his eloquence ; and that several 
spurious collections of his sayings were handed about 
in Rome in his life time; till his friend Trebonius, 
after he had been consul, thought it worth while to 
puldish an authentic edition of them, in a volume 
which he addressed to Cicero himself. Caesar like- 
wise, in the height of his power, having taken a fancy 
to collect the apophthegms or memorable sayings of 
eminent men, gave strict orders to all his friends who 
used to frequent Cicero, to bring him everything of 
that sort, which happened to drop from him in their 
company. But Tiro, Cicero's freedman, who served 
him chiefly in his studies and literary aflVurs, pul)- 
lished after his death, the most perfect collections of 
his sayings in three books." 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 265 

Such is the account of some of the traits of Cicero's 
character in which Lincoln resembled him. The 
parallelism might be further continued, and other 
particulars adduced which were common to the two 
men. As Tiro preserved tlie sayings of Cicero, and 
as Boswell never failed to secure every chance 
thought that fell from the lips of Johnson, so too, 
there will be men who will collect the stories that 
have been accredited to Lincoln ; and the pleasantry 
which was employed by him to relieve the tedium of 
the hour and to serve as an escape valve to his feel- 
ings, may hereafter be preserved in volumes as elabo- 
rate as tliose perfected by the freedman of the orator, 
and the follower of the lexicographer. 

Troy Duihi Whig, May 22d. 



Agreeably to the spirit of the proclamation of the 
President of the United States, appointing the first 
day of June, as a da}^ of mourning in view of the 
bereavement sustained by the nation, the Eev. Dr. 
Horatio Potter, the bishop of New York, issued on the 
twenty-fourth of May, a letter and an order of services 
for that occasion. They are here inserted, as they 
served to give direction to the religious worship of a 
portion of the people. 

Letter, and Order of Services. 
To the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of New York : 
Dear Brethren : Thursday, the first day of June, 



266 LTXCOLX .VEMOIllAL. 

having been designated and set apart by the President 

of the United States, as a day of National Humiliation, 

Fasting and Prayer, the following order of services is 

set forth to be used in this Diocese ou that day. 

Commending you, dear Brethren to the blessing of 

God, I remain your faithful friend and 

Brother in Christ, 

Horatio Potter, 

Bishop of New York. 
New York, May 24, 1865. 

Order of Services set vorth by the Bishop, to be 

USED IN the Diocese of New York on TiiURSDAY, 

June 1st, 1865 : 

Tf The Morning Service shall be the same with the 
usual Office, except where it is hereby otherwise 
appointed. 

1 Insteadof the Anthem, Voiilc, Exnlicmus Doiniiio: 
Psalm cxxx, De profundis clamavi, .shall be said or sung. 

Proper Psalms. — Psalm xc, and Psalm xci. 

Proper Lessons. — The first Lesson, Isaiah, i. ; The 
second Lesson, Hebrews, xii to v. 15. 

\ After the second Lesson the Hymn, Benedicius. 

\ The Litany shall be said entire. 

1 In the end of the Likmy, immediately before the 
General Thanksgiving, shall be said the Prayer For a 
Person under Affliction, the phrase "sorrows of thy 
servants," being altered so as to read "sorrows of the 
people of this land." 

1 The Litany being ended, there shall be sung from 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 267 

the Selection of Psalms in metre, Selection 30, verses 1, 
2, and 3 ; or Seleciion 40 ; or some other Selection, at 
the discretion of the Minister. 

^ In the Communion So-vice, the Collect, the 
Epistle, and the Gospel, shall be those for the Week 
(The Sunday after Ascension Day), with the addition 
of the Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, after the 
Collect for the day. 

1 After the Gospel, shall Ijc sung the 12th, or 202d 
Hymn ; or some other Hymn at the discretion of the 
Minister. 

1" Immediately before the Blessing, the two final 
prayers In the Order for the Burial of the Dead, one or 
both, may be said. 

Proclamation by the Mayor. 

The President of the United States having, by Pro- 
clamation, set apart Thursday, the first daj^ of June, to 
be observed as a day of humiliation and prayer, in 
view of the great national calamity sufi'ered by reason 
of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, President 
of the United States, I do herebj' respectfully recom- 
mend to the citizens of Troy that they pay due re. 
spect and make proper observance of the day, by 
suspending labor, closing their places of business, and 
by assembling at the stated places of worship. 

Done in the city of Troy, this thirty-first day of 

May, 1865. 

Uri Gilbert, Mayor. 



268 LiycoLx memoi{ial. 

JUXE 1st, 1865. 

"TuE Sword of the Lord," A Discourse Delivered 
IN St. Paul's Ciiukcii. 

BY IlET. THOMAS W. COIT, D.D. 

0, thou sword of the Larrl, How long vit! it be ere Ihoii he quiet ? Put 
up thyself into thy scahbard, rest, and be still. — Jebemiau, xlvii 6. 

This is not the first time, my brethreu, that I have 
selected tliis text for a Xational Fast-Day. The very 
same text was long since chosen for a sermon to be 
addressed to you on a national occasion ; but circum- 
stances, not necessary to mention, prevented its com- 
pletion. In making it a theme for the iirosent 
occasion, I resume some thoughts which have long 
been suspended. 

The imagery of the Helu-ews is, you know, very 
strong; is, to us, seemingly excessive and extrava- 
gant. But we must take it as we find it ; it would 
not be oriental, if it were not apparently romantic. 
The text depicts God as a warrior, with a sword in 
his hand, equipped for bloodshed and extermination. 
But to a Hebrew, this would be no more than our 
saying, that war as well as peace was under the con- 
trol of the Almighty : and that he could govern the 
destinies of both, with a sovereignty none can dis- 
pute. As controlling the destinies of the former, 
God is pronounced by Moses, in just so many words, 
"a man of war;"* while, in the visions of St. John, 
* Exodus, XV, 3. 



LINCOLN MEMORLAL. ogg 

even the Prince of Peace is represented with a sharp 
two-edged sword proceeding out of a mouth, which 
would fain utter nothing but benedictions.* 

But if God is thus an arbiter, and a supreme arbi- 
ter, for that which more than any thing else puts the 
destinies of a nation in peril — war, and of all wars a 
civil war — then in relation to war, one of the best 
things we can do is to appeal to Him, in that character, 
and pour our supplications at his feet, for forbearance 
and compassion, for mercy, sustenance and direction. 
It is such a supplication as this, which the Prophet 
Jeremiah gives us an instance of, when — as I doulit 
not — he raised a tearful e^'c to Heaven, and ex- 
claimed : 

O, thou sword of the Lord, 
How long will it be, ere thou be quiet ? 
Put up thyself into thy scabbard, 
Rest, and be still. 

Such a resource, however, as that, is not one which 
our human preferences would put forth, as a com- 
manding, as a transcending one, when war smokes 
and thunders around us, and threatens to overwhelm 
us with its tires and earthquakes. No ; the mind of 
man would look rather to the hand of man for extri- 
cation in such formidable exigencies — to the sagacity 
of statesmen, to the bravery of soldiers, to thronging 
armies and encircling fleets, and all war's enginery of 
* Revelations, i, 10. 



270 LiyCOLN MEMOBIAL. 

mischief. The greatest, grandest warrior of all is apt 
to be forgotten, amid sucli eircumstauees — the sword 
whicii He wields is all uuthought of — and though 
the actual arbiter of every destiny, the resistless 
decider of every battle, He is treated as if a fiction of 
the fancy, the creation of cloud-painting liopes. 

Our Prophet, j-ou perceive, did not forget such a 
dread and resistless personage — the only genuine 
Lord paramount of human fates. And I do believe, 
I cannot help believing, when I look at the issue of 
our late tremendous conflict, that such an e.vample 
was not forgotten by our countrymen, as it has been 
b}' those who laugh to scorn the idea, that the bend- 
ing of human knees can influence a will that sways 
the universe — that a whisper from this earth's dust 
can be heard in the courts of the Eternal, the Ira- 
mortal, the Invisible. But when the struggle deep- 
ened — when our country's fortunes trembled in the 
balance — then, I am persuaded, multitudes began to 
pray, as they had never done, to that " High and 
Might}' Ruler of the Universe," to whom the prayer 
book teaches us constantl}' to appeal for public men. 
And then too, as I am recently informed, and am 
most glad to be informed, the late Head of the nation 
began to imitate his countrj-men, and to plead daily 
at God's footstool, for the pressing necessities and 
calamities of tlie land entrusted to his guardianship. 
There is to me, no brighter spot in all his history — a 
history which the future will glorify more perhaps than 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 271 

we do, since it will judge him by results perfectly 
incredible to ordinary calculation — no brighter spot, 
I say, in all bis history ; and one can follow him, in 
view of it into the world whither he was hurried with 
such appalling haste, with hopes outweighing im- 
mensely all his human honors. 

But if things are so, then why are we this day called 
to mourn the utterly unlooked for, the paralyzing 
catastrophe, which i-emoved him from the midst of us ? 

Perhaps, my brethren, our rapid success was too 
exhilirating, too flattering, too intoxicating. Like 
Israel, on the banks of the Jordan, we had vanquished 
all essential opposition. We stood, as they did, upon 
the borders of a promised land, and were bewildered, 
as they were, with prospective triumphs which opened 
around on all sides, and with radiant brilliancv. Our 
hearts were lifted up, and we were beginning to for- 
get Him, who, and who alone, had wrought such a 
series of wonders, that as one looks back, he feels 
tempted to call them not phenomena but miracles ; 
we were forgetting that it was vii-tually the sheathing 
of His sword, and not the taking as spoil the swords 
of our opponents — that this was the true cause, which 
had obtained our exemption from war's blighting 
horrors, and brought back omens of peace and plenty 
— and were inclining to say, with self-satisfied Israel, 
"My power, and the might of mine hand, hath gotten 
me this wealth." * 

* Dcuterouomj', viii, 17. 

35 



272 LTXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

So the sword of the Ahniglity was again drawn 
forth, so far as to make ns feci, most smartingly, that 
our destinies were no more in our own keeping than 
before. The nation was touched, where it could 
most ill aft'ord to bear it, in a Head upon whom such 
expectations rested, as have not rested upon any one, 
save the Father of his country, the immortal AYash- 
ington. I say swli expectations, including not our 
portion of the land alone, Init that which has arrayed 
itself against the laws and constitution of their fathers 
as well as ours. Well did one of the chiefs in that 
land say, in terms of bitter lamentation, "The south 
has lost its best friend." And well may the south 
keep this day, with a depth of earnestness exceeding 
our own ; for a madder act was never perpetrated, 
since the days of Cain, than by him wlio slew for the 
south, as he thought, a tyrant, when he slew one, who, 
sooner than have been a tyrant, would have died as 
he did a martyr. If I could believe the south might 
supply many such utter madmen, I could Ijclicve that 
the age of demoniacal possessions had retui-ned, and 
that we needed exorcisms which would cast out seven 
devils from a single human breast ! 

But I must make this addi'ess a short one, bretliren, 
and therefore turn to a question, which naturally sug- 
gests itself, when we are in the midst of mourning and 
fasting, namely : How shall we conduct ourselves, so 
that we may not be called to mourn and fast (Kjnin ? 

We might easily have had much more to mourn 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 273 

aiul fast for, than we have now. Had the sword of 
the Lord heeii drawn but a little further from its 
scabbard — in other words, had not God restrained 
the wrath of man in its devouring malignity — the 
very wheels of government might have been arrested, 
and the nation resembled a vessel in the trough of the 
sea, amid the billows of a storm. God only knows, 
how little of non-interference on his part might have 
brought us to the verge of anarchy, or dashed us upon 
its breakers. 

So to God then let us go for the future, as we have 
done for the past : to God lot us still lift the plaintive 
cry of the prophet, 

0, thou swoi-d of the Lord, 
How long will it be, ere thou be quiet? 
Put up thyself into thy scabbard, 
Rest, and be still. 

This is our best security against future evils, as it 
has been against the evils from which we have been 
so singularly redeemed. Problems of the deepest 
and most anxious concernment are before the nation, 
which should be decided by that union of the wisdom 
of the serpent with the gentleness of the dove, which 
God only can impart and regulate. Widespread 
destruction is an easy work — as easy, sometimes, as 
individual self-ruin. We have virtually destroyed 
what attempted to be a nation, and which now lies 
before us as Lisbon lay before the King of Portugal, 
after the earthquake of 1755. Such almost immeasu- 



274 LIXCOLX ME.VOlilAL. 

rable ruin aecoiiipaiiied that enormous convulsion ot 
the ground, whose unduhitions spread over four 
millions of square miles, that the monarch cried to his 
prime minister in an agony of consternation, '• What, 
oh what, is to be done ?" " Bury the dead, and feed 
the living," was the calm, ever memorable reply. 
And beyond all question, our great crowning work is 
to be much the same. We must bury the past, as 
well as justice, attempered and softened by charity, 
will permit. We must consider this, 

■■ That, iu the course of justice, none of us 
Should see salvation. Wc do pray for mercy; 
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render 
The deeds of mercy."* 

And in providing for the future, we must act under 
such sacred cautions, as our church addresses to her 
bishops, at the moment of their consecration : "Be 
so merciful, that you be not too remiss ; so minister 
discipline, that you forget not mercy." Ma^' such 
cautions ever guide our rulers in the state, as well as 
in the church; and that they may, and may continu- 
ally, let us pray for them, as we do for those about to 
be confirmed, that God would daily increase in them 
His manifold gifts of grace, the spirit of wisdom and 
understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly 
strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness, 
and fill them with the spirit of His holy fear. 

* Merchant of Venice, Act iv, scene 1. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 275 

ITappil3% % universal consent, one hitherto im- 
practicable difficulty in the reconstruction of the 
southern social state has been obliterated ; and 
Christanity has now the fairest of opportunities to ac- 
complish for the colored race, all which it could ever 
accomplish for the freest of human beings. I say 
Christianity; since it is a grievous mistake to suppose 
that Christianity has ever sanctioned slavery, though 
it has endured it, and not interfered with it, as a civil 
institution. So our Saviour endured the system of 
Roman taxation, and paid his tribute punctually to a 
Roman emperor; while in direct reference to another 
Roman emperor, one of his apostles — the very chief- 
est of them, as some will have it — said most explicitly, 
"Honor the King."* Did our Saviour approve the 
laws, which governed the collection of internal reve- 
nue iu the Roman Empire ? Did St. Peter approve 
the t3'ranny and bloodthirstiness of Nero ? No more 
did Christianity approve of slavery, when it bade those 
in bondage obey their masters. The real sentiments 
of Christianity respecting slavery can be seen in the 
antidote, which it offered a baptized slave for his sad 
subjection — an antidote such as no sj'stem of philo- 
sophy, or ethics, or political economy, ever gave him, 
or ever could give him. It pronounced him the free- 
man of his God 1 1 This was a comfort, which no 

* 1 Peter, ii, 17. 

f See 1 Coriuthians, vii, 23. St. Paul could scarcely pronounce, to 
my mind, a higher condemnation of slavery ,/>?;■ sc, than by maintaining 



276 LmCOLN MEMOBTAL. 

earthly ufflncncc could bn\' for him ; nav, a jiriviloge 
wliich no oartlily potentate could confer upon him. 
Wherefore, Christianity, and the church after In r, in- 
culcated the doctrine that no one — no one — within 
their pale, could be degraded or impoverished in the 
eye of all eyes, the eye of God, by any involuntary 
predicament or condition. 

The church. 1 mean the church catholic, primitive, 
and apostolic — the church which we believe has been 
transmitted to us from earliest times, and which we 
profess our faith in, iu the Creeds — tlds church began 
at once to modify and to repress slavery, to the best 
of her ability. Doubtless, it was a conflict of ages 
with human governments, and above all with human 
purses. It was the purses of London mci-eliants, 
which forl)aile the British Ministiy to listen to the 
importunities of South Carolina, when, before the 
American Revolution, it prayed that no more slaves 
might be imported into Charleston. It is a l)attle with 
iilthy lucre, which the church catholic has had to iight, 

that tlie man, whom It would fain hold in life-long bondage, might 
be, all the while, God's freeman. And yet it has been argued, a 
thousand times, that, in his Epistle to Philemon, he encouraged a fu- 
gitive slave-law. He did no such thing. He fullj- sustained the doc- 
trine, that no baptized person should be held iu bondage. He enjoined 
upon Pliilemon (as he had a right to do, Philemon being a professed 
Chri.stian), to receive Onesimus as "not now a servant, but above a 
servant, a brother beloved" (see verse 16), or, as the Greek fully au- 
thorizes me to render the passage, "as no longer a slave, but above a 
slave, a brother beloved.' That is, receive him as your equal and 
your brother ; for, inasmuch as he is a freeman (or made free, as the 
margin has it) of the Lord, his servitude with you, as a Christian, has 
forever ended ! 



LINCOLN MEMOmAL. 271 

ill establishing as one of her axioms of Christian law, 
that the freeman of God should be the freeman of man 
likewise. But, happily, the axiom has been estab- 
lished ; and I may now announce to you as a self-evi- 
dent Christian principle, that no one, be his nation, 
his rank, or liis color what they ma}', should ever be 
held in bondage, who has had the name of the Trinity 
invoked upon him, and the sign of the cross impressed 
upon his brow. That blessed name, that blessed sign, 
ought to be a complete protection to any one, be his 
color or his quality what they may, from the degrada- 
tion of servitude. That protection was accorded 
peacefully in Mexico and Russia: England, I am sorry 
to say it, left out the Christian reason for manumitting 
her bond-servants. In our own dear land (how much 
sorrier am I to say so), liberation for the slave has 
been extorted, by the red right hand of war. But, 
come by what instrumentality soever, it has coine at 
last, with apparent security. And may God Almighty 
grant, that it never be abused by friend, or wronged 
by foe ! 

I cannot stop here, my brethren, to indulge in com- 
ments upon the offices and influence of government, 
upon the condition of those who have been emanci- 
pated from thraldom. Time will not permit me ; and, 
moreover, I cannot but think such a topic belongs 
rather to others. But this I may say, and this I ought 
to say, as Christ's minister, there is now a future of 
hope for a down-trodden race, if Christianity may 



278 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

bring to bear upon them, allhev beneficent and elevat- 
ing influences and inspiratious. I will never despair 
of the civil, as well as the moral regeneration of an}- 
beings, for whom Christ died, so long as Christ's 
religion may be theirs, in its whole fullness and 
freedom. Let Christianity then baptize the African 
as the freeman of man. Let her educate him as such. 
Let her instruct him as such, how to lead "a godly, 
righteous and sober life." Let her marry him as 
such, and give him a home as inviolable as the white 
man's. Let her offer him a welcome at her goodliest 
altars. Let her follow him to the grave, with the 
same commitment which is bestowed upon the highest 
of human society. And if they who have been 
esteemed fit to be goods and chattels only, do not 
rewanl such treatment, then we may reverse the 
prophet's petition, and pray for the coming of a da}-, 
when the sharp edge of chastisement shall awaken 
them to sensibility. 

But that day, my Christian hopes prompt me to 
believe, will never come to haunt us with the spectres 
of ingratitude. Christianity has never failed with 
the most refractory of human races. It has now but 
to have its legitimate influence, and we may apply to 
our united country-, the promise of days long gone. 

" Fear not, for I am with thee; 
I will bring thy seed from the East. 
And gather them from the West. 
I will say to the North, ' Give up ;' 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 279 

And to the South, ' Keep not back ; ' 

Bring my sons from far, 

And my daughters from the ends of the earth : 

Even every one that is called by my name."* 

ISTow unto him that is able to do exceeding abund- 
antly above all tliat we ask or think, according to the 
power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the 
Church by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world 
without end. Amen.f 



An Address Delivered in the State Street 
Methodist Episcopal Church. 

BY CHARLTON T. LEWIS, ESQ. 

At the close of winter, it is the custom of the 
Christian part of the nation to observe a day of 
fasting and humiliation. Many had looked forward, 
some months ago, with heaviness and anxiety to that 
day, as it approached. But the nearer it came, the 
greater was our success in our national struggles; 
and the whole sky was brightening with triumph and 
hope, so that the fast lost all its sorrow and became a 
jubilee. Soon after, the hope was more than realized ; 
the laud was filled with joy and exultation ; and our 
late good President, referring all blessings to their 
source, appointed the twentieth day of April as a day 
of thanksgiving to God, for his goodness to the ua- 

* Isaiah, xliii, 5, etc. 
f Epliesians, iii, 20, 31. 

36 



280 LiyCOLy MEMORIAL. 

tiou. But just before the appointed clay, a sudden and 
terrible calamity fell upon the world, and most sadly 
upon our country; and that day became a day of 
terror, apprehension and unbounded sorrow. Xow 
again, and in niemor}' of that event, we meet for 
a day of fasting and humiliation. And we find its 
terror gone ; its sorrows lost in a larger joy. Our war, 
our struggle for national existence, is really ended ; 
the chief plague spot of the civilized world has disap- 
peared ; health and peace are brought back to our 
life as a people. Who can make to-day other than a 
thanksgiving ? Who can suppress the voice of 
exulting praise to our Father's God? 

We are not prophets. We cannot ordain our own 
emotions for a day. We name hours to come for 
times of joy or of sorrow; and the great forces of 
history, which own not us but auothor as master, 
reverse our appointments. Our wisest plans are 
changed to folly ; while " our indiscretion ofttimes 
serves us well, when our deep plots do pall." Shall 
we not learn from this to look above ourselves to one 
in whose hand are our waj-s ? 

These sudden shocks of feeling are not fortuitous 
nor worthless. Not in the vast of creation, nor in the 
elemental forces, shall we look for the scene in which 
God's plan for history is accomplished ; but in hu- 
manity. That era of mighty movements which has 
passed over us, the ovei'whelming march of events, 
the tremendous passions waked and lulled in mil- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 281 

lions, the sublime wnitli of the nation followed by a 
calm, these are forces to develop manhood and build 
its future. The great value of our records of the past 
is in their revelation of what is in man. And events 
should be measured chiefly by their power over the 
human heart. It is this which makes these last 
weeks great in world-story. Never before did so 
short a time reveal on such an imposing scale, the 
tremendous contrasts of our nature ; the infinite 
possiliilities of good and evil which lie in man ; the 
heights and the depths he is capable of. 

It is fitting, then, tliat this call to humiliation comes 
in the hour of tfiumph. To-day is a jubilee ; aye, 
this year is one long day of jubilee, wherever man 
has hopes for freedom. It is the birth-year of a race ; 
half a continent of emancipated manhood dates forever 
from this time its power to work out a destiny. We 
have a peace which is peace ; a peace fairly won by 
fighting down the evil. Every household that has 
lost a hero is lit with joy at the triumph of the cause 
he died for. Every martyr to liberty in history sees a 
new garland on his grave, in her future secured. 
Another of those great struggles of civilization, which 
determine the world's course for ages, is ended and 
won. And hark ! the cry is, humble yourselves ! 
Fast and pray ! 

This world is double in all its constitution ; as the 
home of our double humanity. High and low, east 
and west, right and left, imply one another, and 



282 LISCOLX MEMORIAL. 

simply repeat themselves through all the relations of 
iiitinite space. And as riches imply poverty, as 
strength exists by contrast witli weakness, so good is 
ever tlirown upon a background of evil. Every great 
revelation of virtue is accompanied with one of crime. 
Unfathoined depths of evil lie under, all tlie suu- 
crowned heights of human nature. And, to-day, we 
cannot turn our thoughts to our chief, -whom God has 
taken, but we are met at once by the startling sight of 
the foulest of crimes. When the labors and suiierings 
of four years for good, culminate iu peaceful freedom 
and the ascent of its first representative to heaven, 
just then the crime and malignity of four years cul- 
minate in one blow, which reveals and exhausts the 
whole spirit of treason. The names of Lincoln and 
of Booth stand on the same page of history, and for- 
ever the glory of freedom's martyr throws a deeper 
gloom on the inverted immortality of treason's tieud. 
But a few years since, both were obscure. No 
man in America, if asked for two names, which 
should be the very emblems, tlie one of patriotism, 
the other of murder, to coming ages, would have 
thought of these. AVe did not know that wo trod the 
same earth with men of such possibilities. And how 
little we know, now and always, of others ; even of 
ourselves. Around us and within us, sometimes mov- 
ing dimly, but mostly asleep, are the forces which, 
awakened, startle nations and forge history. Each 
one bears within him that which might become 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 283 

cliviue manhood, to raise his race to something nobler, 
or fiendish manhood, to turn its joys to gall. Side by 
side everywhei-e they stand and grow, the spirits of 
love and of murder ; the wheat and the tares, both 
ripening to the harvest. " We walk on powder- 
mines." Every green field of human life grows over 
a volcano of human passion. 

But, turning from the dark side now, let us look at 
the man in whose memory we meet. Four years ago, 
if we had been asked to describe him, one of us might 
have said, "He is a man of strong practical sense, of 
fixed principle, firm and resolute, with a wonderful 
capacity for work, and the ablest debater before the 
people in this land of speakers. He seems, too, to be 
patient, tolerant of others' infirmities, and the humblest 
public man we have ever known." We could have 
said little more. But events have moved rapidly and 
greatly, for him as for us; and have developed the 
capacities of the man, and made them manifest to us. 
We look back upon his person, now lost, and his ca- 
reer, already transfigured by his departure; and see 
in him a great gift of God to mankind. 

Abraham Lincoln was a man of very keen sympa- 
thies for others. Unselfish in his impulses, he labored 
all his days whether, in a humble life or as a nation's 
ruler, for the good of those around him. He listened 
with kindness and close attention to all; he made 
himself in greatness as accessible as he had been fami- 
liar, when himself undistinguished from the throng. 



284 LIKCOLN MEMORIAL. 

His feelings were strong; so strong that in another 
man tbey would be considered a sure index of " a good 
hater." But he hated only the principles he thought 
wrong ; not the men who held them, nor even the 
men who hated him. He would not speak a word 
against a foe. Striving to be the president of the 
whole people, he exhausted his time and strength in 
efforts to give to all who claimed it his fatherly care. 

"With keen native insight, trained in rugged experi- 
ence, he pierced through the plots around him, and 
was rarely deceived. His honest sineei'ity in politics 
accomplished more than cunning, and he recognized 
this same sincerity, whenever it appeared, and loved 
and trusted it. 

In spite of his rough early life, his ways were as 
gentle and tender as a girl's. Compelled to be stern 
and unyielding in the great outlines of administration, 
at the painful cost of hardships to individuals, he 
sought relief for his own mind, in making exceptions 
of kindness, where the opportunity occurred to him. 
In war all his aim was a righteous peace ; not the 
grasp of power. And wlieu the tidings reached him of 
the terrible repulse of Chancellorsville, all thoughts of 
disappointed hopes and broken policy were lost in 
his overwhelming sorrow^ for the wasted life and 
suffering of men ; and the strong man threw off all 
self-control, and cried like a broken-hearted woman. 
Few have known, through the struggle, how the 
sternest and bloodiest of wars was conducted by the 
gentlest and teuderest of leaders. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 285- 

The controlling feature of his mind was the sense 
of justice. He was very slow to work out a moral 
problem ; he must see every step clearly ; but then he 
was fixed. No great measure of his administration 
was dictated by feeling ; all came from calm convic- 
tions of right. Holding ever before him, as the 
compass of his high office, a longing love for his 
country's welfare, he obeyed its guidance, in prefer- 
ence to personal or political aims, and this welfare 
he saw only in the free life of the people, making its 
own future. His faith in the people was invincible, 
marvellous ; in this he surpassed every ruler the world 
has ever known. When he saw them, as usual, wrong 
in their first impulse, he awaited, with calm assurance, 
their final judgment. Never, I repeat, did the people 
have a man who loved and trusted them so, and 
riclily were this love and trust returned. To learn 
his glory, go not to the cultured student, or the 
polished citizen, to the forum or the press : but to the 
cottage and to the field of labor. Go to the freedmen 
of the far south ; and you will hear " massa Lincoln" 
named next to God I 

Through all his public life, we may trace a steady 
growth in this man. His views grew steadily broader 
and firmer. His grasp of power became more confident. 
He gathered slowly, but most fixedly, to himself the 
people's love. In nothing is this growth more obvious 
than in the religious tone of his mind. His later 
state-papers show a progressing trust in God. And if 



286 LIXCOLN MEyfOBIAL. 

pure religion consists in doing justice, loving mercy, 
and walking in genuine huniilit}-, we must pronounce 
him one of the most religious of men. Events placed 
him high, with little agenc}' and short expectation of 
his own ; and he grew to his circumstances, gathered 
them into himself, rose in mind and heart to the 
greatness which each rapidly coming crisis called for. 
There were times, chiefly in his earlier career, when 
his language, as well as his form and manners, excited 
the merriment of critics ; but his fame could aftbrd 
this, for his words by which he spoke to all ages, were 
deeds. Yet his brief address at Gettysburg stands 
perhaps unrivalled in modem oratory, and would 
alone rank him with immortal names in literature. 

But why dwell on the sides and phases of character 
shown us by him whose nature was well delineated, 
centuries before his birth ''. Shakespeare makes Wol- 
sey in his disgrace sketch to Cromwell the model 
ruler and statesman, and every word lits our Lincoln 
as if written by a prophetic insight. 

" Love thyself last : cherish those hearts that hate thee : 
Corruption wins not more than honesty. 
Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, 
To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not; 
Let all the ends, thou aim'st at, be thy country's, 
Thy God's, and truth's; then if thou fall'st, Cromwell, 
Thou fall'st a blessed martyr." 

Such was Abraham Lincoln on the fourteenth day of 
April. He then stood on a pinnacle of historic glory, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 287 

not attained by any otlicr in tliis generation. It was the 
anniversary of the first fall of our flag before treason; 
and after conducting for four years the operations of 
the largest ai-mies in the world, until liis foes were 
crushed, he had ordered that day to be signalized by 
restoring the old flag. The same old faithful hands 
that pulled it down should raise it ; and every battery 
that flred upon it should salute it. Tliis was done ; 
an emblem of war ended, of peace, union and govern- 
ment restored, in the heart of the south. I think 
that all ages to come, looking back on that triumph, 
will agree that the first name in the world on that day 
was Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
States. 

We live, indeed, in an age of great rulers, who 
seem greater, because succeeding an age of little ones. 
A higher glory sits on the thrones of Europe than for 
ages past. Even the English court has renewed 
something of its ancient splendor, by tlie influence of 
the purity and refinement of its head, as "mother, 
wife and queen." France has been at once plundered 
and made greater by Xapoleou, who, after wading 
"tlirough slaughter to a throne " has based his empire 
on wisdom and progress. Victor Emanuel has re- 
vived the long-fided glories of Italy. Francis Joseph 
has emancipated himself from the traditional counsels 
and policy of his house, and strives nobly to give 
constitutional government and financial life to his 
empire. And, greatest of all,Alexander of Russia, in 
37 



288 LiyCOLX MEMOniAL. 

the eliaracter of emancipator of a continent, appear?; 
as an advancer of civilization, and a hope of mankind. 
Not forgetting tlicse nanR'^^, l)nt remcniht'ring tlieni 
all. and their greatness, I liesitate not to .«et one name 
above them, and to dechire that on the fourteenth of 
April last, the first name in the world was Abraham 
LiNCOLX, Presi<kMit of the United States. 

Is Napoleon the architect of his own power? Lin- 
coln won his way, from, deeper obscurity, hy purer 
methods, to a nobler throne. Has Victor Emanuel 
destroyed a hellish tyranny in Naples? Lincoln has 
abolished more completely one far more odious. Has 
Alexander freed millions of serfs ? Lincoln gave free- 
dom from equal bondage to a lietter race, and upon 
ground more fruitful in all that sustains and promises 
civilization, than Russia's most fertile fields. His ad- 
ministration has s.istaiued its finances through crises 
more terrible than even Austria has mot. And he 
crowned all by an exalted and modest walk of private 
virtue sterner and not less pure than that of England's 
court. But that which stamps his greatness forever, 
which sets him above all these rulers, is this: he is 
the only man in history, who, holding in his hand 
boundless military power, and the destinies of mil- 
lions; sustained by exhaustlcss resources and the 
devotion of the people ; has never been suspected of 
using or wishing to use them for his personal aggran- 
dizement, for any purpose but his country's good. 
Only in the bosom of republican civilization could 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 289 

siK'h patriotism grow ; ouh- tliere coiikl it even be 
understood. He was liis country's ; he is his country's 
forever. Richer with his work and the memory of all 
he was, the Union enters the new phase of her his- 
tory ; and on this memorial da^^, the genius of the 
Republic he saved bids his soul ascend to sit evermore 
side by side with Washington; with "Honor, honor, 
honor, honor to him ; Eternal honor to his name." 

Farewell, bright spirit; vesper star in the constella- 
tion of freedom's martyrs, the last and the brightest; 
ascend thy throne of fame, and beam on us and on 
this laud in never-fading glory. 

Looking to him, we have nothing to mourn. Earth 
had nothing higher lor him; nothing unattained. 
Amid the acclaims of a triumphant nation, who made 
liim tlicir symbol of triumph, and the exultant grati- 
tude of a new-l)orn I'ace, to whom his name was all 
the brightness of the future, to steji to heaven; was 
not this a tittiug close to his career? A good man, 
who maintained goodness inviolate, and who believed, 
beyond the common lot of statesmen, in God and man, 
has gone from man to God ; in the ripeness of honors, 
in mature years, and in the hour of victory. It is no 
loss, but all gain for him. For that humanity he 
served and died for declares, in its purest aud complete 
emljodiment, "He that loseth his life for my .sake, 
the same shall save it." 

Why is it then that these outward symbols of 
mourning seem to liave their deepest meaning to-day ? 



290 LiycoLy^ memorial. 

Why were our liearUs so long shocked and hcavv; a 
burden of undefined aj^prehension upon tlieni : the 
nation, as it were, watching a black shadow, and dindy 
frainiug of it imaginations of horril)le import? "We 
have more to remember to-day than the deatli of our 
friend and father. We have to deal with that which 
has slain him. N"ow, as of old, a great crime is felt to 
be "a great perturbation in nature;" and at the first 
shock of this greatest of crimes, we felt as if nature's 
laws were yielding; and we trembled for ourselves 
and our children. 

We were dreaming of the sweetest sounds to mor- 
tals ; peace after Avar; pardon for mistaken views and 
impulsive crime ; restoration of brotherhood, and a 
national Jubilee. The head of the nation represented 
its spirit. He was filled with peace and kindness; 
his mind reacted from the long strain of sternness and 
contention, and overflowed with gentleness and 
pardon. lie was busied with devices to make re- 
pentance easy and restoration pleasant, for his foes. 
At this moment, in the Capital, amid throngs of those 
who would have died to save him, he was struck 
down by treason. And the nation, startled from its 
dreams of peace, arose to ask, bewildered, what is this 
human serpent that stings again its double benefactor, 
in the very hour of mercy and pardon? What is this 
spirit, which will not be sated with blood, nor sufier 
kindness to live ? It seems a new revelation of the 
character of our foe. The treason which strikes at 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 291 

our free government is that which murders the great 
and good ; which hreaks open the sick chamher and 
aims the assassin's dagger at the helpless invalid; 
which even strikes down mercy herself, in the nurse 
of the sick, whose sacredness was never violated 
before even by the iiends of barbarous war. It is not 
that our ruler falls. Epaminondas, Washington, 
aye, Jesus himself died ; but tlie cause of each went 
on. The Eepublic is rich in manhood, and can sur- 
vive its noblest. But we did not realize before how 
earnest and terrible are the times we live in and the 
forces which fill them. Nothing is asleep to-day ; 
God and his foes are in earnest, and we must be. Let 
the knell of our murdered chief rouse us to duties 
and labors not understood before. 

I have seen in the south a field of blood where the 
same spirit was shown. Some twenty acres of fiat 
laud, skirted by graves, which had been a race course 
for the chivalry, were made a prison for the soldiers 
of the Union. There confined, many of them with- 
out clothing of any kind, they were exposed to the 
fierce blaze of the July sun, and to frosts of winter. 
Everything that an absence of the requirements of 
decency, health and comfort could inflict was suflFered 
by them. They were nearly, many of them quite 
starved to death; many more were wantonly mur- 
dered; multitudes died of exposure and disease. 
They dug pits in which to lie for shade or warmth ; 
trenches to drain a few feet of ground for a bed ; and 



292 LiyvOLN MEMOlilAL. 

the wliolc tiukl is scarred and pierced tliicklv with 
these from end to end. Even their dead at last were 
not removed, and no tools could he ohtained ; so with 
their own fingers tliey dua- graves for their comrades. 
And pity itself was made a crime ; for I saw women 
in Charleston who had been lashed with seventy 
stripes for attempting to give these snfterers a mor- 
sel of wholesome food. Why allude to this? To 
show how crniie is linked together: how all evil flows 
from one foul inspiration : how the s|iirit tliat mur- 
dered Abraham Lincoln is ex'erywhere the same ; the 
spirit ()\' ir(-<iftoit. Do you ask, where is his murderer? 
Dissolved into thin air. a \'isi<)n, a name, iiut the 
people of this land will ever feel, that, wherever from 
this day a hand is upHfted against this flag, against 
the nation, against human freedom, there is the in- 
spiration of treason ; there is his murderer. The 
traitor hitherto may have been misled ; the traitor 
hencefortli is the conscious ally of the assassin, and 
adopts as his own all the foul crimes, which, through 
this war, have humiliated maidiood b}- shewing its 
strange possibilities of fieudishness. 

Amid all our excitements and apprehensions, we 
have felt one quieting i)()wcr : one thing is calm, his 
great spirit looking down ujion us. "What, could he 
speak, would be his l)i(ldiug? Words surely, fuller 
than ever of his grand characteristics of patriotism 
and kindness. And his voice would be lifted loudlj- 
against the clamor, now so wide and hia-h, for ven- 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 293 

geance. He loved ever justice, acting by tlie forms 
of justice, and dwelling in the house of mercy. 
And he would hid us gather calmness and strength; 
and in the quiet dignity of an outraged nation, with- 
out passion, but like (Tod, slowly and surely to hold 
an inquisition for blood. He would bid us, as utter- 
ing the weightiest words of his whole career, to seize 
the suspected, to bring them only before the ordinary 
and regular tribunals iif justice ; particularly to hear 
all facts, Aveigh them well, leaning to merciful doubts ; 
and, when guilt is fully ascertained, execute with 
sublime delay the sentence of justice, amid the accla- 
mations of the world. He would say, this is the only 
government on the eartli possessed of such magnifi- 
cent self-restraint as to make this possible. That, if 
this is done, he is glad to have given his life, that the 
world may see the perfect organization, the dignity, 
energy and justice of a great republic, in this most 
bewildering scene. That if this is done, all is done. 
The problem of reconstructing society in the south 
has no diiliculties invincible to a people who can do 
this. And we can do it. Let the people themselves 
demand, as the right of their calm dignity and noble 
wrath, that this be done. Let them hold back every 
arm that would strike down even treason and murder, 
by summary and irregular methods, and await the 
slow, great stroke of the divine arm of law. 

Such would he the lesson of the highest patriotism, 
above the storm of [lassion, in the serene calm of 



294 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

heaven. Tliis iiution cannot aftbrd a fevered investi- 
gation, an irregular judgment, a sentence by a tribunal 
not known to the laws. We are rich to-daj-. This 
war, so wasteful of material wealth, has left us rich 
in historic life. Our old reproach among the nations 
was, the want of a storied past. Four years have 
given it to us, with long rolls of heroic ancestries, 
countless shrines for pilgrimage, an infinity of noble 
memories, worth more than a series of ages of less 
fruitful life. Have they shewn us depths in humanity? 
They have revealed heights of heroism, beyond the 
fairy tales of chivaliy. The boy who threw himself 
across a cask of powdei-to protect the ship from explo- 
sion at Roanoke Island, is one of a thousand immor- 
talities. The chief story of fortitude in the French 
revolutionary wars, was the famous account given by 
Barrere of the sinking of La Vengeur, going down 
with all on board shouting defiance at their guns, 
and " Virc la Repulliqae." This was false ; but the 
true story of the Cumberland more than replaces it 
in the heroic annals of man. History is enriched and 
human hopes enlarged by these records. We are left 
rich too in patriotism, to inspire and hallow heroic 
force. A tide of passion and of power has been 
raised by this crisis M'tich will not recede till this flag- 
waves everywhere over this nation, yet waves not 
over one who does not love it freely, and better than 
his life. How we love it to-day! How bright its 
colors seem ! They are reawakened in splendor by 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 295 

the storm. They are the brighter, for the very 
rainbow which the tears of our grief beud over it. 
The blood of Abraham Lincohi has crimsoned every 
stripe, and his bright soul shines out as its central 
star. Let it enfold his ashes to-day, tenderly as a 
nation's love, and wave over his last resting place, an 
eternal emblem of peace. 

Yes, we are rich to-day, too rich, too great, for any 
vindictive passion, any haste in wrath. Never had 
nation such opportunities for moral greatness as ours. 
"We have won greatness in patriotic fervor, iu heroism, 
as well as in resources : now let us crown all with 
the greatness of forbearance. The law for murder 
is fixed by the consent of the world. Let it be execut- 
ed legally. But the law for treason is a shifting 
code, written through all history in blood, but not 
based, as the other, on the moral sense of mankind. 
Let us show that we can aftbrd what no other nation 
has ever given, magnanimity to a fallen foe. The 
eftect of such a policy, boldly and thoroughly pursued, 
upon Europe, on posterity, above all on our own 
national character, can scarcely be estimated. It 
would strengthen the principle of self-government 
more than all our victories in war. For it would 
show that this is not a triumph only of strength, but 
of law ; of that sublime law which can vindicate and 
administer itself; which can conquer the spirit of 
treason in the heart, and make patriots of a com- 
munity of traitors. Without one feeling of sympathy 
38 



296 LIXCOLN MEMORIAL. 

or regard for the murderers of our prisoners and of 
our President, but because we regard ourselves and 
law, we must leave all crime to the regular adminis- 
tration of law, we must pardon all but that which is 
crime by all human codes ; and so do greatlj- the 
work of greatness. 

It is in this spirit, apidyingthe Christian rule of love 
to our political action, that we can act wisely in this 
and in every crisis. Love to God, our country and 
truth, will inspire and consecrate hatred to every 
spirit that opposes these, and the halo of God's own 
smile will be upon the nation, as, in the pure spirit of 
patriotism, we execute his law upon the second crime 
of history, done ou the annivei-sary of the first and 
darkest, the murder of the Saviour of the world. Let 
it be in this spirit of love that the nation stands to-day 
before its dead, and, yearning with aiiectionate hope 
for the return of its thankless children, yet vows un- 
dying hatred to the treason that struck him down. 
By every holy bond that ties men to a solemn dutj', 
we will drive out that satanic inspiration fi-om the 
land ; we will have a nation purified, regenerate, 
dedicated in love as a shrine to the God of liberty. 
Accepting as our leaders those who may be spared us 
by Him, who, while "he buries his workmen, carries 
on his work," we will do our work, which is his, and 
then lie down with our greatest, under the flag he 
died for. 



lincoln memorial. 297 

Discourse Delivered at the Third Street Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church. 

BY KEV. DAVID T. ELLIOTT. 

And Samuel died ; and all the Israelites were gathered togdher, and 
lamented him, and buried him in his house at Uamah. — 1 Samdel, xxv, 1. 

A spirit of general inourning and universal sorrow 
swept over the whole land of Palestine. In every 
household and hamlet, as well as in town and city, 
a dark shadow rested upon the people. The occasion, 
the death of Samuel, called up the most sacred re- 
miniscences and awakened the deepest anxieties. 
Samuel, under the theocratic system of govervment 
with which God had honored this nation, was the 
only visible representative of their glorious King, and 
the accredited minister between the people and their 
Divine Sovereign. And when, in their folly, they 
desired a visible king, that they might resemble the 
nations surrounding them, he under God was their 
stay aud confidence during the period of their politi- 
cal revolution. Known and honored for his remarka- 
ble piety, purity and integrity, a patriotic, devoted 
man, set apart to the service of God and his own 
nation, he had evinced the strongest attachment to 
the people, aud this fact joined to his superior abilities 
in providing for all the interests of all classes of citi- 
zens, had made him the general favorite, unto whom 
they looked for counsel, and upon whose known in- 



298 LLWOLX ilKMOlilAL. 

tegrity tlun- relied, without distrust. And thus it was 
that all the people felt liis death as a personal atHie- 
tion and mourned it as a public calamity. In view of 
these fiicts, this general sorrow — this universal gath- 
ering of all the people was a fitting tribute to his 
eminence and worth, a becoming expression of a na- 
tion's appreciation of his sincere devotion and un- 
swerving fidelity to all the trusts committed to his 
hands. We call your attention to this case at this 
time, as indicating the proprieties of such an occasion, 
as well as suitably introducing the subject we are, this 
day, called together to contemplate. 

Peculiar and interesting as were the circumstances 
of the Jewish nation upon the occasion of Samuel's 
death, they but in pai't suggest the peculiar and im- 
pressive influences that surround this occasion in our 
national history. A nation greater than the Jcavs 
are overwhelmed in sadness and grief. A loss such 
as Israel could not feel in the death of their beloved 
and honored prophet (who was full of years and was 
called away by the visitation of God), has befallen 
our beloved country and is felt as irreparable hx a 
great nation. On the evening of the fourteenth of 
April last, fell by the hand of the assassin, Abraham 
Lincoln, President of the United States of America. 
He died a martyr for his country and the glorious 
principle of universal liberty. We are met to-day to 
recount his virtues, study his character, and pay our 
grateful tribute to his eminent abilities and moral 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 299 

worth. In this discourse we propose to consider the 
causes that developed the spirit that devised and ac- 
complished this sad event, his assassination. Then 
to look at the history, character and doings of our 
late chief magistrate, and close with such practical 
reflections as may seem suitahle to the occasion. 

In undertaking so much in the compass of a single 
discourse, you will see that our sketch must be very 
meagre and imperfect. In looking for the influences 
that culminated in this terrible affliction, we ask you 
to go back with us to the earliest period of our na- 
tional history. In the year 1776 the people of the 
colonies of North America made a bid for independ- 
ence. They heroically took their stand upon the 
rights of man. They published and proclaimed as 
their honest belief the doctrine of universal equality 
and inalienable rights, saying "We hold these truths 
to be self-evident that all men are created equal ; that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain ina- 
lienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness." Appealing to God as the 
judge of their sincerity and of the rectitude of their 
intentions, they asked and received the support and 
confidence of the people at home, and also the sympa- 
thy and assistance of people abroad. Inspired by 
these sentiments they rose with the struggle, until 
under God they attained victory and nationality. It 
was the sublime idea of the equality and rights of 
man that developed and invigorated manhood into 



300 LINCOLN MEM^OIilAL. 

the sublimcst proportions ever then witnessed upon 
earth, that brought forth a nation worthy to be free 
because it manifested the true spirit of freedom. This 
decLnratiou was the charter, the watchword, the battle 
cry and the grand central principle of our lathers 
through the bloody, trying period of the revolution, 
until the nations of the earth arose and recognized 
their claims and gave them independence. But when 
the end was gained — when the men who had struggled 
and endured through the dark trial of war to attain 
their own rights, and had sought God's blessing upon 
their eftbrt until they had succeeded, standing so- 
lemnly pledged to each other to forfeit life, fortune, and 
sacred honor rather than abandon their principles — 
when these men met in council to form a constitution 
and adjust a polity for the government of a free peo- 
ple, they strangely and to my mind unaccountably 
failed in the most essential particulars. It is lamenta- 
bly true, that the constitution of the United States 
does nowhere recognize the existence of the Divine 
Being. And it is unaccountably true also, that it 
does recognize slavery. The God whose help our 
fathers had implored in their trial, was forgotten in 
their prosperity, and the principle upon which they 
had appealed to the confidence and intelligence of the 
world was repudiated in this great instrument made 
to direct and control a nation's destiny. Yes, they did 
recognize slavery, under another name I admit, but 
this simple evasion only makes the fact more glaring. 



LINCOLN MEMOmAL. 301 

They recognized it under protest, I confess, but in 
recognizing it at all, they granted it a right to exist, 
and in so doing ignored and repudiated practically 
what they were pledged to maintain, at the cost of 
life, fortune, and sacred honor. 

Here began that course of inconsistencies and evil 
influences, which, in the progress of events, step by 
step, insidiously led to the dark and bloody period of 
treason and rebellion through which we have passed. 
Year after year the glorious declaration was read, and 
orators waxed eloquent over its noble sentiments, 
while year by year slavery grew stronger and en- 
trenched itself more firmly in the legislation of the 
nation. At first it was simply tolerated, and by wise 
and patriotic statesmen was deplored. Then it was 
countenanced by the practice and patronage of men of 
talents. Soon men stood up in its defence and advo- 
cated it upon politic grounds. At length its support 
became a means of political preferment. Later still, 
it was advocated as the highest style of civilization. 
Finally it was canonized as a divine institution and 
maintained as authorized by holy scripture. Churches 
were divided at its bidding. Legislative bodies the 
most grave and important were elected in its support, 
and the judiciary influenced to act in its defence. 
What was only tolerated at the first, under protest, 
grew to be the grand central idea with many of the 
people, until American citizens were mobbed and 
martyred upon the suspicion that they opposed slavery. 



302 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Slave-holders grew more and more arrogant and uu- 
scnipulous. While wealth poured in upon them with- 
out their eftbrt; while they were tolerated in the 
greatest sensual gratification, and the unprincipled 
assigned them the proudest social position ; while pre- 
sidents, senators, representatives and judges were 
elected in their interest, it is not remarkable that they 
came to demand that all men shoidd receive their doc- 
trines and the whole national domain be given to them 
as the theatre of this institution. All wlio disagreed 
with them in sentiment were stigmatized as " abolition- 
ists," "mud-sills," "greasy mechanics." The declara- 
tion of indeijendence was openly discarded and the 
statements therein made, pronounced untrue. Free 
labor or labor by the white man who claimed citizen- 
ship was denounced and dishonored. Every right of 
the common people was either invaded or threatened, 
and the assurance was given, that unless all their 
demands were complied with, the union of the states 
should be broken up and our government overthrown 
and destroyed. 

During this period, however, there were men who 
sounded the note of alarm. They exposed the prac- 
tices and exhibited the spirit of slave-holders, they 
advocated the doctrines of the declaration, to wit, 
man's equality and the rights of man. As a result 
of their labors and the reaction produced by the un- 
scrupulous character and arrogant assumptions of the 
slaveocracy, the people were at length aroused, their 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 303 

moral sense was awakened, and the agitation led to a 
more perfect understanding of the question and an 
appreciation of our relation to it as citizens, and our 
responsibility as American freemen. An organized 
opposition to slavery extension was attained, and the 
issue made by an appeal to the electors of the land 
upon this question. And though in the first attempt 
the friends of freedom were defeated, still they ex- 
hibited such an inveterate hostility to human bondage 
and such a detei-mination to utterly refuse granting 
the demands of slavery, that the system was believed 
in dangei", and its votaries prepared to precipitate 
an arrangement long contemplated, namely, to break 
up the nation. Aware that they had succeeded 
in their purpose to elect a man to the presidency 
in 1856 who was pledged to act in the intersts of 
slavery, only by massing all the friends of slavery, 
rum, profiigacj' and iniquity generally, with office 
holders and seekers of place, together with thousands 
of good and honest people who were misled by 
calling this aggregation of all corruptions by the 
popular title of Democracy (to which the party as 
such had no more right than Satan has to divine 
honors), they determined to find some justification, if 
possible, for rebellion. The issue was again made 
upon slavery extension, and Abraham Lincoln was 
chosen standard bearer, an avowed enemy of the 
institution, a man from among the people, of tried 
principle and of known integrity. They knew that 
39 



304 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

neither flattery nor menace would move him. and 
being resolved to ruin tlio country which they could 
not rule, they decided to make liis election a pretext for 
rebellion. He was elected. A good providence gave 
the United States a ruler worthy to be entrusted with 
the great interests of the age, and the hopes of the 
world. Rebellion was inaugurated. Slavery- took the 
field against liberty. The forces were marshalc(h and 
the most appalhng struggle waxed hotter and still 
hotter. 

Times there were when men looked on with l)ated 
breath, when every bosom swelled with anxiety, and 
wlien every interest of man and tlio nation seemed 
to be in immediate peril and to hang upon a single 
thread. But one noble chief seemed to rise with 
every trial and to comprehend every emergencv. 
When the titting occasion arrived, slavery, tlie parent 
of all this mischief, was abolished and treason disfran- 
chised. Blow succeeded blow that struck the very 
heart of rebellion, and made all loyal men believe 
our President worthy to be called honest still. But 
with every step in the progress of the war, the spirit 
of slavery, for it was the animus of the rebellion, 
seemed more and more malignant and unscrupulous. 
See this evinced In the cold blooded murder of men 
who on the battle field ask quarter or lie wounded 
when the struggle is past. See it in the plan to burn 
our cities and infect whole communities with the 
plague. See it in the barbaric cruelty with which 
they hunt, murder and destroy loyal people at the 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 305 

south, wlio will not joiu their fortunes with rebellion. 
See it in the treatment of prisoners of war, herding 
them without shelter, clothing or food in most mala- 
rious places, making pastime of their sufferings, and 
without provocation, murdering them for sport. And 
finally, as a fitting sequel to this most infamous rebel- 
lion, see the evidence of this spirit, in the conspiracy 
to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Lieutenant General 
Grant, together with the heads of the departments of 
state. 

Such my brethren was the spirit which produces 
this sad event, and, at one blow, clothes a continent in 
mourning and causes the greatest grief to a whole 
people. Slavei-y acknowledged, tolerated, defended, 
advocated, canonized, has begotten and brought forth 
this harvest of consequences. But in the fall of the 
rebellion slavery itself has fallen. Now the institu- 
tion lies stark and pulseless. Let the amendment of 
the constitution bury the hideous corpse beyond the 
power of a resurrection. But oh, at what a cost of 
precious blood and agony have we gained this result ! 
How many are the sorrowing households ! Fathers 
mourn for sous like David for Absalom. Rachel weeps 
for her children. Widowhood and orphanage are 
made common. Battle-scarred and mutilated heroes 
are all around and among us, telling of the cost. 
What patriot blood, scalding tears, and crushed affec- 
tions, are the price of victoiy. But God reigns. It is 
His doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. Liberty 



306 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

lives. Republican institutious survive. True demo- 
cracy grows strong in the land. A great, proud and 
powerful nation remains, purged, redeemed, regener- 
ated I trust, to challenge the admirsition of mankind 
and command the respect of the world. In this his- 
tory are both the argument and example, demonstrat- 
ing man's capacity to maintain his rights and sustain 
democratic government. 

Let us now look at the historj-, character and acts 
of our lamented chief magistrate. Abraham Lincoln 
was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in the year 
1810, of poor yet pious parents. His childhood and 
youth were clouded and embarassed by poverty, 
ignorance and slavery. He belonged to a class who 
were without social advantages or power to secure 
them, being at the same time cordially despised by 
both planters and slaves, and known as " poor whites," 
a class to whom slavery made labor a disgrace and 
knowledge a crime. To him, under these circumstan- 
ces, the prospect for learning and honor was dark and 
forbidding. Yet whatever advantages he did enjoy 
were earnestly improved. He learned to regard 
slavery as a great political and social evil, as well 
as a crying sin against God and man. During this 
period of youth he removed with his parents to the 
then new and wild lands of Indiana. Here his advan- 
tages were but little greater than in Kentucky, while 
here befel him the greatest trial and misfortune of his 
early life, in the death of his pious and excellent 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 307 

mother, who, like the mother of Washington, instilled 
into his mind a vigorous and devoted love of truth 
and honesty, and thus laid the foundation for the 
integrity of character that caused him to be known 
as honest Abe. 

From such a boyhood and such surroundings came 
forth the great, good, the honest, true, patriotic and 
talented Abraham Lincoln. He wrestled with diffi- 
culties and overcame them : encountered embarrass- 
ments and triumphed over them ; rising steadily, not 
because endowed with any remarkable genius, but by 
the power of steady application ; not as the result of 
patronage of the great and honorable, but by the 
force of correct principles, honest purposes, and 
patient perseverance in earnest labors. His greatness 
is the reward of work, simply work, as God designed 
for man. Work brouglit him from obscurity to dis- 
tinction, and work enabled him to hold the esteem, 
the affections and confidence of the wise, patriotic 
and pure, amid all the trials of his position and the 
differences of opinion upon the many important 
events of his administration. 

When he entered upon the duties of his office, the 
whole country was wild with excitement. As his old 
neighbors bade him adieu, his simple, honest request 
was " pray for me." He sought the national capital, 
and even then assassins dogged his steps and lay in 
wait along his path. When he reached Washington, 
dismay and consternation filled every bosom — so 



308 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

much so, that those whose curiosity led tliem to wit- 
ness his iuductiou into office, were hastih- organized 
into II guard to protect him from assault. Under 
these circumstances he pronounced his inaugural, 
whicli was so calm and manly, as to inspire confi- 
dence to that extent that the old battle-scarred and 
war-worn veteran. Lieutenant General Scott, ex- 
claimed with tears, " We have a country left, thank 
God, we have a country left I" Dispassionate and 
calm, he looked upon the surrounding omens of 
trouble and prepared for the shock of war. He found 
our arsenals plundered of arms and munitions, our 
navy scattered upon distant and unimportant mis- 
sions, our treasury robbed, our small standing army 
hemmed in by rebel plotters who endeavored (too 
successfully, in many eases) to lead it into trea- 
sonable conspiracies, many men educated at the na- 
tion's expense in military and naval schools, joined in 
fortune with the south, our own people mistaken as 
to the design and power of rebels, and in many minds 
a feeling of determined hostilitA* to war under anj- 
circumstances, owing in general to the former politi- 
cal affinities and fear that party should sutler. Our 
national capital was threateued by invasion, and 
alarm and confusion held carnival at the seat of gov- 
ernment. He issued a call for seventy-five thousand 
men to defend Washington, and this was treated, by 
not a few, as an unwarrantalde assumption of power. 
The avenues of communication with the city were 



LINCOLN MKMOniAL. 309 

closed up. Union soldiers were murdered on their 
way to defend our old flag, and almost every thing 
seemed unpromising and forbidding. In this con- 
nection let me accord all honor to Major General 
John E. Wool of our own loyal city, who nobly 
sprung to tlie rescue, and without waiting for express 
orders promptly forwarded relief to an eml)arrassed 
and suffering garrison. 

But in the midst of all these excitements Abra- 
ham Lincoln never faltered, nor for one moment 
showed signs of willingness to give up any material 
interest of his important trust. He rose with each 
emergency, grasped every question and calmly looked 
to the ultimate result. United with his noble corps 
of intimate advisers, he marshaled and organized an 
army that astonished the world, created a navy, com- 
pared to which all the fleets of other nations were 
feeble and useless, established a system of finance 
which commanded the entire confidence of capitalists 
at home and made a loan from otlier nations unneces- 
sary, and inspired a generous confidence among the 
masses of the people that assured him of their un- 
wavering support. Seizing the opportune moment, 
he sent out his emancipation proclamation that gave 
personal liberty to millions of loyal people who, under 
all the pressure of their unfortunate condition, had 
never been untrue to the dear old flag, thus restoring 
the dishonored declaration of seventy-six, and by his 
large, magnanimous and prudent policy, and his fear- 



310 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

less, indomitable determination to maintain the in- 
tegrity and unity of the government, compelled even 
his enemies to respect his principles. 

Amid ail his cares, anxieties and duties, he listened 
to the grievance of the poorest, and redressed the 
wrong that afflicted the meanest loyal citizen. Unin- 
timidated l)y menace and unscduced by flattery, he 
held on his way. Reelected to his more than royal 
position by such an honorable and astonishing unani- 
mity as no man had ever witnessed in the past, and as 
may never occur again, he entered anew upon his 
work in the same spirit and zeal, while almost uni- 
versal acclamation accorded him wisdom, greatness and 
worth. He lived to see his desire largely accom- 
plished, to know that his policy was appreciated and 
approved, that the wisdom and purity of his adminis- 
tration were admitted, and to see the proudest and 
most defiant leaders of the rebellion prisoners of war 
or fugitives in their own land. He lived to know that 
the power of organized treason was broken and well 
nigh subdued. He lived to receive and enjoy the 
very highest honors ever paid to mortal man because 
they were the spontaneous oiferings of a free people, 
to know that his name stood second to none in Ameri- 
can history and would be the pride and glory of the 
American people, and to have millions of enfran- 
chised men, made so by his act, rise up and call him 
blessed. 

And here, in this meridian of his strength, power, 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 311 

honor and uscfahiess, on this summit of earthly 
grandeur and glory, with the future prosperity, power 
and greatness of the country, he, under God, had 
saved, opening hefore him. He fell, he fell by the 
hand of an assassin, who acted in the interest, and, I 
have no doubt, in the accomplishment of a deeply 
laid plan of the slaveholders' rebellion. He fell a 
martyr to his honored principles and for the liberty he 
had loved so well. And as he fell he bequeathed to 
his country all the honors he had so nobly won and 
blessings such as none had ever conferred before, 
leaving his name written in the proudest place of the 
proudest history of the freest people that ever dwelt 
upon the face of the earth, and graven in the hearts of 
his countrymen, rich as well as poor, learned as well 
as ignorant, so that their boast shall be to say, " I 
voted for Abraham Lincoln, I was his fellow citizen." 
Abraham Lincoln! A name that will be pro- 
nounced with reverence in all lands, and shall be 
embalmed in the memories and enshrined in the af- 
fections of freedom's sons in all ages! While his 
illustrious character shall be pointed out as a model of 
true greatness, and his successful struggle with ad- 
versity and embarrassment as the inspiration bestowed 
upon such as are not favored with patronage nor en- 
dowed with genius, while his name shall be trans- 
mitted to posterity as another glorious example of 
sincere devotion to liberty and the elevation and hap- 
piness of mankind, he also shall l)e distinguished and 
40 



312 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

remembered as an honest man and as the Saviour of 
his country. At his death a nation's tears were the 
most fitting oft'ering to his virtue, while its anxieties 
and fears evidence the strong confidence it had re- 
posed in him. Blessings rest upon his desolated and 
stricken household, and peace be to his ashes as well 
as all honor to his name. 

But Grod, our country and duty remain, and we 
are called from these sad reflections to other cares 
and to hold up other hands. Let us look at this call 
upon us. Andrew Johnson, his successor in office, is 
now constitutionally the President of these United 
States, and as upon him much depends as to the 
adjustment of diflicult and important matters, under 
the present state of things, I am happy to say that he 
was chosen to fill the second oflice in the gift of 
American citizens because of his capability for im- 
portant position and duty, because he possessed the 
true American spirit of devotion to liberty, because 
of his noble stand against secession and rebellion and 
because he maintained his position in the true spirit 
of manly devotion to freedom, and sustained the 
grand old flag of his country. I this day thank God 
that he, being a man so tried, we, without any mis- 
givings may confide in his patriotic principles, his 
superior abilities, and his personal sense of justice 
and right in these trying times. I rejoice, moreover, 
that he wisely retains as his constitutional advisers 
those tried and worthy men whom the j^eople have 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 313 

learned to love and trust without reserve. Let us then 
pray for Johnson as we have prayed for Lincoln, that 
Almighty God may bless and guide him in all those 
matters, upon the proper adjustment of which the 
future peace and welfare of the country depends, such 
as determining the status of the freedman and ap- 
plying the proper punishment to traitors. Differences 
of opinion will arise no doubt, and various policies be 
strenuously advocated. We want action that will at 
once l)e just, wise, generous and in the spirit of liberty, 
which will result in the greatest good to the greatest 
number without wronging an}-. 

And here, though the matter be hy some supposed 
dilEcult, I would also " show mine opinion." First, 
we should sincerely implore divine guidance and 
blessing, and weigh the whole matter seriously and 
well, and be particularly careful that we do nothing, 
or deny nothing either upon prejudice or partiality. 
Is the freed negro a man ? Then endow him at once 
with the rights and privileges and responsilities of a 
man, as freely and fully as you would accord the same 
to any white man in the same circumstances. Do you 
allow ignorant white men the right to exercise the 
elective franchise unconditionally? Allow the ignorant 
black man the same exercise. Do you limit that 
privilege to those whites that are intelligent and can 
read ? Then restrict the colored man upon the same 
principle. Do you restrict this right, denying disloyal 
white men this exercise ? Do just so with black men. 



314 LIXCOLX MEMORIAL. 

"What I plead for is simply this, that no invidious 
distinctions, founded on prejudice against eulor, sliall 
disij^race our action, or dishonor one lo^'al fellow 
creature and fellow soldier simply because he is black. 
And as I speak particularly of the elective franchise, 
so, did space allow, would I speak upon every mooted 
question that may or does arise, touching the status 
of the disenthralled negro. Let us in this matter 
prove ourselves possessed of the moral intelligence 
that nobly rises above all the dishonorable relics of 
that barbarous system that has constituted our nation- 
al reproach and vexation in all our past history, and 
has well nigh accomplislied our overthrow and ruin 
of late. Now since Divine Providence has furnished 
us the opportuuity, let us show ourselves equal to the 
trust, by a noble, magnanimous recognition and 
endorsement of all the rights of the freed millions 
among us. 

Another question that I desire to present, still 
remains. Shall treason go unpunished and rebels stand 
without rebuke after all the evil they have devised 
aud the mischief they have wrought 1 Here again 
differences of opinion exist. Men who iu spirit or 
in fact partook of or sympathized with treason; will 
naturally plead for leniency aud a general pardon. 
They will remonstrate against cruelty and shedding 
blood. Why did they not remonstrate when rebels 
were murdering unarmed men, or starving and abus- 
ing prisoners of war ? Why did they not shudder 



LINCOLN MEMOETAL. 315 

at the thought of shedding blood when traitors were 
inaugurating this most sanguinary and inexcusable 
of wars 1 I confess, to my mind, the very argument 
of such men not only looks suspicious, but breeds 
distrust. Anotlier class plead for tolerance and par- 
don to subdued rebels upou a much better principle. 
Actuated by the most humane sentiments, and sin- 
cerely desirous for conciliation and peace, they depre- 
cate the possible execution of the guilty criminal, and 
I respect their humanity though I am obliged to 
disagree with them as to the method of kindness. I 
would be distinctly understood as pleading that noth- 
ing be done through revenge or in the spirit or at the 
dictate of retaliation, but solely to promote the 
authority, stability and influence of law, and thus 
advance the best interests of all the people. Treason 
is a crime and a sin against all the people. It is a 
violation of law, which is the safeguard of the people. 
It is a repudiation of the authority and a resistance to 
the duty of the civil magistrate, who is the guardian 
of the rights and interests of the people under the law 
And in suc^-- case of treason as this— when the plot 
has been laid deep and long and the conspirators, by 
previous perjury and crime, were prepared utterly to 
overthrow all government that the people had or- 
dained, and were only defeated and prevented in their 
wicked designs by the strenuous efforts of the govern- 
ment, and after a struggle of years— to pardon indis- 
criminately is to destroy the authority and sanctity of 
law. 



316 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

Iliul this rebellion been the result of sudden excite- 
ment and, as must have been in such a case, of short 
continuance, without time for men's passions to cool 
and without opportunity for the government to show 
that it did not intend to oppress any man or class of 
men who complained, it were vastly diti'erent. But 
such is not the case. The leaven of treason has been 
working for years. The government has by many, 
as I believe, unwarrantaljle concessions removed all 
occasion to rebel, but all in vain, and now for such 
criminals to seek pardon or for })er.sons of doubtful 
loyalty to plead for their unconditional forgiveness, to 
me appears the farthest removed from that brave, 
chivalrous spirit that, having risked eveiy thing upon 
the appeal to the sword, only shrinks from the result 
when it is overcome. What would be the temper of 
those men had they triumphed, had they their hand 
now upon the throat of the natio)i as they have desired 
and vainly sought to have ? I repeat, while I would 
do nothing out of retaliation or malice, I insist that 
we must maintain the authority and sanctity of law, 
or we shall leave the interests of the loyal and true 
citizen insecure. Treason is the highest crime against 
the state. Upon the power, authority and purity of 
the state depend the peace, safety and rights of the 
people. Slightly to pass over the most flagrant treason 
or, indiscriminately to pardon rebels, is to weaken if 
not destroy the influence, authority and power of the 
state. And such a course is itself a betrayal of every 
interest committed by the people to the state. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 31 7 

I do not advocate indiscriminate punishment. 
This, too, were not only improper, it would be radi- 
cally unjust, for many, if not most of the rebels, are 
but the dupes and creatures of the master spirits of 
the occasion. But I will say that, in my judgment, 
those men who conceived and adojsted this scheme, 
and plotted to plunder that they might destroy the 
nation, who have accepted place and power to injure 
us, and especially those who perjured their souls, more 
effectually to work our ruin, the officers, the master 
minds, ought to suffer the just penalty of their great sin. 
Something must be done for justice, and something 
that shall forever deter men from pursuing a similar 
course, or we shall cheapen crime, and unsettle the 
fundamental principles of society, and destroy the 
foundations of government. What we may call mercy 
and magnanimity to the guilty, may be the cause of 
ruin to the loyal and innocent among us. I pray God 
to bless Andrew Johnson, and the cabinet, and all the 
people, and especially the emancipated slaves, and 
give to all, wisdom to devise and power to execute for 
his glory, and our jsrosperity and peace. 



318 LINCOLS MEMORIAL. 

SrBSTANCE OF A DISCOURSE PrEACIIED IN THE UnITED 

Presbyterian Church. 

BY KEV. HIGH P. MCADAM. 

Neither xvill I be u-ith you any more, exeept ye destroy tht accursed from 
amony you. — JosuuA, vii, 12. 

The history of this nation, in the present crisis, is 
in many features, the history of the Jewish nation 
repeating itself. There are many circumstances in 
our national experiences, corresponding with theirs. 
In our success we find a counterpart to theii- prosperi- 
ty, ill our reverses we discover a likeness to their 
calamities. In whatever circumstances we may be 
placed as a nation, we may look into the glass of God's 
word and see ourselves reflected. In every possible 
condition, we may find some portion of that word 
suited to our case, and containing a lesson, a waruino- 
or a promise from which we can draw consolation or 
derive instruction. For the purpose of obtaining this 
consolation and instruction we have selected for con- 
sideration the portion of sacred history, embracino- a 
record of God's dealings with Joshua and the children 
of Israel. 

We propose to notice the similarity between some 
points in the history of the Israelites, and some cir- 
cumstances in connection with our own national 
experience: also to i^rescnt some of the lessons of 
instruction which these events are designed to teach. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 319 

The " accursed " was that which God had devoted to 
destruction. Of the spoils which should be taken from 
the enemy, God commanded Joshua and the children 
of Israel to destroy everything save the silver and 
gold and vessels of brass and iron, which were de- 
clared to be consecrated to the Lord. To be guilty 
of trespass in the " accursed thing" was to appropri- 
ate these spoils to some other purpose than that which 
God had commanded. 

As long as the Israelites obeyed the command of 
God they were victorious, every eftbrt was crowned 
with success. But when they disobeyed His command, 
nothing but defeat and disaster awaited them. In 
obedience to His instructions, they make an assault 
upon the city of Jericho, and the walls of the city 
totter and crumble before them. When they make a 
subsequent assault upon Ai, they meet with overwhelm- 
ing and serious defeat. This calamity was unexpected. 
The God of battles who before had fought for them 
and given them the victory, was now turned against 
them. In view of this catastrophe, the hearts of the 
people sunk within them, and they betook themselves 
to mourning and humiliation. " Wherefore the hearts 
of the people melted and became as water. And 
Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon 
his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, 
he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their 
heads." In their emergency they humble themselves 
before God, and impiiro why it is He has thus frowned 
41 



320 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

upon tlu'iu, wliy it is He has thus turned to he their 
eneni}-, and suffered their adversaries to destroy them. 
God tells them why it is, they had heeu guilty of 
disobeying His command, they had sinned, they had 
" committed a trespass in the accursed thing," and He 
would not be with tliem again, until they sliould put 
away the " accursed" from among them. On investi- 
gation, they discover that Achan has been guilty of 
transgression in appropriating a portion of the spoils 
from Jericho to his own use, instead of giving them 
into the Lord's treasury. As a punishment for this 
transgression, they took Achau and all that lie had, 
his possessions and family, and "all Israel stoned him 
with stones, and burned them with fire after they had 
stoned them with stones. So the lord turned from 
the fierceness of his anger." While the " accursed " 
was among them, God would not bless them. Until 
they would put away the transgressor, and cast out 
the guilty from among them God would visit them 
with judgment. But no sooner had they put away 
the transgressor, and purified themselves from their 
guilt, and destroyed the "accursed thing" and the 
accursed from among them, than God smiled upon 
them, dispelled the clouds that were frowning over 
them, and removed his judgments that pressed them 
so heavily. Then their defeats were converted into 
victories, their reverses into successes, and their dis- 
asters into blessings. 

In obedience to the call of the chief executive of the 



LINCOLJf 3fEM0IiTAL. 321 

nation, we are assembled here today, to bow ourselves 
reverently and with humility before God, owning 
our dependence upon Him, confessing our sins, and 
acknowledging His justice and righteousness in this 
adverse dispensation of His providence sent upon us. 
While we were exulting in victory, and rejoicing in. 
the triumph of our arras, while we were with interest 
and anxiety, looking forward to the speedy restoration 
of our beloved land to peace and renewed prosperity, 
our joy is suddenly changed to sorrow, our day of na- 
tional rejoicing is converted into a night of mourning. 
Before the period had arrived which had been set 
apart as the occasion for the public expression of our 
gratitude and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the 
success of our cause, it became necessary to revoke the 
appointment, and to designate a day for the purpose 
of humiliation and prayer, because of national calam- 
ity and bereavement. We are assembled to mourn 
the loss of the nation in the removal of our chief 
magistrate. The national head has been taken away. 
Our beloved president has been stricken down by the 
hand of an assassin. Those who in their deep 
depravity, hate and maliciousness murdered him, 
destroyed the head and wounded the heart of the 
nation. The country mourns his loss as that of a 
fVither and protector, for under God he loved the 
country and preserved the integrity of the r^niou. 

We pronounce no eulogy over Abraham Lincoln. 
He has built his own monument, has written his own 



322 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

eulogy on the hearts of his couutrymeii. Of the many 
virtues, tiic amiable dispositiou, the luauly traits oi' 
character aud the administrative abilities of our 
lamented President, it is not necessary to speak. The 
results of his labors will live in the heart and history 
of the country'. His un(pialified honesty and integri- 
ty, his largeness of heart and amiability have endeared 
him to the people. Even those who opiiosed his 
policy, are constrained to admit and admire his honesty, 
uprightness and sincerity. He is dead, not from natu- 
ral causes, but murdered, shot down by the bullet of 
the fiendish assassin. That the President of the United 
States, the choice of the people, raised to his high 
position by their act and authority, should be assassi- 
nated is something new in the history of our country, 
and the tragedy has been reserved for the cultivation 
and the civil and religious advancement of the latter 
half of the nineteenth century. The event has 
humbled us in our own eyes, it has humbled us before 
the nations of the earth. Let it this day humble us 
before God, that the sins of this nation have merited 
and provoked a judgment so terrible. That our 
country is the abode of such depraved beings as were 
these conspirators, — beings made in the likeness of 
men — that it has been the scene of such a tragedy, is an 
evidence of its awful wickedness. That we have those 
in the midst of us capable of perpetrating sucli awful 
crime, and prepared for such fiendish murder aud 
butchery, should prostrate this natiou before the God of 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 323 

vengeance, should lead it to implore his pardon, lest 
he utterly destroy us from the face of the earth, as he 
did the wicked nations of old. They sinned in the 
darkness of heathenism, we in the light of God's word 
and truth. It was fit and proper for the President to 
set apart this day as a day of humiliation and prayer. 
Let us bow before God, and confess that we have 
committed national sin, that we have provoked this 
national calamity. Let us how submissively to his 
will, and say, " the Lord is just in all the evil he hath 
sent upon us." 

It is our duty to-day to learn the lessons of God's 
providence, to enquire why it is the Lord is thus 
atHicting us, to search out "the accursed" from among 
us and put it away, for He has said that unless we 
destroy it from among us, He will not be with us any 
more. It is our duty to bow before God as individuals, 
and confess our sins in His sight, " that He may turn 
from His fierce anger, that we perish not ;" saying in 
the language of David, " I acknowledge my transgres- 
sions, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee, 
Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy 
sight ; that thou mightest be justified when thou 
speakest, and clear when thou judgest." 

We must accept this calamity as sent of God. He 
who sits in heaven and rules on earth, has ordered 
and permitted it, for some good purpose. It is one of 
the movements of the Almighty, in His great plan of 
providence, in working out the destiny of this nation. 



324 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

"We sliall notice briefly some of the lessons eloai-lv 
taught in thit^ afllietive dispensation. When the heart 
of an individual is softened, broken under sorrow, that 
heart is more easily touched, impressed and influenced, 
than at other times. So it is witli a nation when 
wounded and bleeding. And God designs to impress 
certain solemn lessons upon the heart of tliis nation. 
By this event He designs to turn us fronr our sins and 
draw us more closely to himself. I have frequently 
seen the statement in our papers and have often heard 
it remarked, that Lincoln was the idol of the people. 
I fear the declaration was fonnded in truth. The 
people of this country are inclined to hero-worship. 
Tliere is a tendency in the human heart, to exalt the 
creature to the throne of the Creator, and render him 
that homage which is alone due to God. It may be 
on this account our President has been taken from us. 
God is a "jealous God," and will not suffer the honor 
and the glory that are due to himself to be ascribed to 
any creature. When a people or an individual sets up 
such an idol, and renders that idol homage, God will 
punish such idolatry. We were disposed to feel, and 
say, that our President had proposed and di.sposed; 
that he by his wisdom and foresight, had plaimed our 
campaigns and directed our forces to victory. We 
extolled Lincoln's "immortal Emancipation Procla- 
mation ;" we said of him, that he had proclaimed 
"liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison 
to them that are bound," forgetting God, who was 



LINGOLN MEMOBIAL. 325 

controlling and directing all these results. We looked 
to his experience and wisdom to conduct the war to a 
successful and honorable termination, and to guide us 
to a happy and permanent peace. We expected his 
wisdom and sagacity to settle the remaining difficult 
questions of restoration and reconstruction. God is 
saying to us by this dispensation, that the work is not 
man's but God's, and is teaching this nation not to trust 
in an arm of flesh, nor in tlie wisdom of men, l)ut in 
Him. He brings to the helm of the ship of state one 
without executive national experience, through Avhose 
instrumentality He will accomplish His work. 

I believe that God designed also, by this dispensa- 
tion, to teach us not to invade the sanctitj^ of the 
sabbath. He has frequently taught us, in our own bitter 
experience, that we cannot violate and desecrate His 
Holy day with impunity. This war has taught us, on 
many a battle field, that God will not succeed that 
army, that disregards the claims of the sabbath. This 
seems to be a lesson of the same iuiport — ajudo-ment 
sent, because we as a people had been guilty of disre- 
garding the claims of the sabbath. When the news 
of the victory of our arms over the confederate forces 
and of the surrender of Lee's armj-, flashed along our 
telegraph wires on that sabljath evening, what was 
the conduct of our citizens ? We know what the pro- 
ceedings were here, and saw from the journals of the 
country that the same demonstrations were witnessed 
in other sections of the Union. JSrotwithstandino: it 



326 LINCOLN MEMORIAL, 

was, the holy sabbatli when the news reached us, 
the people became intoxicated with excitement, and, 
in tlieir uncontrolled enthusiasm, proceeded to such 
lengths in their rejoicings as ill became the sacred- 
ness of the day which God has set apart as a day 
of rest, to be kej)! holy unto Himself Appro- 
priate as such proceedings might liave been at 
another time, tliey were a sliameful desecration of 
the Lord's day. When I heard these demonstrations 
and remembered that it was the sabbath, and re- 
flected that God is a God of justice as well as a 
God of compassion, I trembled for the consequences. 
I felt that there was yet in store for us, a more 
dreadful retribution, a more awful Judgment. God 
will not sutler the sins of a people to go unpunished, 
he will not suffer us in our rejoicings over \ictory. 
willfully to profme his day, or violate his law and 
command. 

Another design in this judgment — a lesson plainly 
taught— is to show the enormity of the crime of slavery, 
the wicked spirit it excites and fosters in the hearts of 
its abettors, and God's detestation of the system and 
the men who have endeavored to uphold and pro- 
pagate it by the instigation of rebellion. That God 
brought about this war and directed it so as to destroy 
the system of slavery, the logic of events lias con- 
vinced the most sceptical. In this matter, the lead- 
ings of this providence are unmistakable. But how 
does God teach his abhorrence of this system by sufter- 



LINCOLN MEMOllIAL. 327 

ing its greatest antagonist, tlie eliampion of linmau 
rights and liberty to be cut ott"? He evinces His de- 
testation, by showing that the spirit that supported 
and upheld slavery, prompted the assassin to murder 
Abraham Lincoln. 

God designs also, by this event, to measure out the 
punishment due to traitors, a severer punishment 
than they would liave received had our president been 
spared. Lincoln was compassionate and merciful, 
and would doubtless have been disposed to pardon, or 
to mitigate the punishment of those who have been in 
rebellion against our government. God is a God of 
justice. To extend mercy to those who have been 
guilty of instigating and carrying on this bloody and 
cruel rebellion, would be to sacrifice the justice of 
God. The justice of God will not be satisfied if the 
leaders in this rebellion escape unpunished. He 
would not be with Joshua and the children of Israel, 
unless they should mete out justice to the guilty; 
neither will he be with us until we destroy the ac- 
cursed from among us. The man who deliberately 
murders his fellow man, forfeits his life under the 
law of God, and the law of the country. There is 
something inherently criminal in murder that canuot 
be expiated save by the blood of the murderer. 
"The land cannot be cleansed from blood, but by the 
blood of him that shed it." So may God have or- 
dained that our land shall not be cleansed from the 
blood of this war, except by the life and blood of 
42 



328 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

those who instituted and supported this war. Mere}' 
to traitors would he injustice to the nation : it would 
be cruelty to humanity, and would grant a license for 
murder and rebellicm in all time to come. That jus- 
tice may be meted out to those wlio arc deserving of 
punishment, God has placed at our head, a man of 
sterner nature — one who will be disposed to brin^ 
them to condign punishment, and suffer the law to 
visit the crime of treason with its unmitigated penalty 
— one who has been made to feel the severity of 
rebel barbarity, and will be the better qualified to 
determine, when punishment is commensurate with 
crime. That is a morbid sentiment, existing in so- 
siety, which transfers our sympathies from the mur- 
dered to the criminal, and demands that mercy be 
extended to him, and tliat justice be not vindicated. 
Sucli a sentiment our better judgment will not ap- 
prove, and God in his word, and now by his special 
providence, seems clearlj- to condemn it. 

In conclusion, let us learn this lesson, that men mav 
pass away, but principle and truth will never decav. 
The enemies of truth and of free government mav 
murder the defenders of truth and the supporters of 
free government, but the principles still live. Abra- 
ham Lincoln is dead, but, God be praised, the o;overn- 
raent is not dead ! Our country and the Union sur- 
vive. He was raised up for a special purpose, his 
work is finished, and he has been taken to his ac- 
count. He was a martyr to liberty, to truth, and free 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 329 

government. For the defence of these he devoted 
the energy of his life. Upon the altar of his country 
he yielded that life a sacrifice. The enemies of our 
nation rnay plot its overthrow, they may conspire to 
hinder the progress of truth, justice, and right, but 
all their schemes will be rendered futile by the God 
of heaven, and instead of being weakened by their 
opposition, the nation will be made stronger. God will 
raise up other defenders, who will support, maintain, 
andperpetuate it, until every nation upon the face of the 
earth will have guaranteed and secured to it, a free 
government, and every individual of which such gov- 
ernment is composed, shall enjoy the right to " life, 
liberty and the pursuit of happiness." 

'' Truth eruslied to earth shall rise again : 
The eternal jears of God are hers; 
But Error, wounded, writhes with pain, 
And dies among his worshippers." 



Other Services. 

At the First Baptist church, the pastor, Rev. Dr. 
George C. Baldwin, preached a sermon from these 
words, " The just Lord is in (he midst thereof," taken 
from the fifth verse of the third chapter of Zephaniah. 
The subject of bis discourse was " God's law of retri- 
bution as illustrated in our late national history." 
" He pictured the barbarities of slavery, and showed 
how the south, in trying to secure the perpetuation of 



330 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

the peculiar institution, had met with its own downfall. 
He argued that a measure of punishment should ho 
meted out to rehels, and that retributive justice should 
be poured forth. Punishment, he claimed, was not 
designed to reform the guilty, but was in the light of 
a penalty for misdeeds — else the devils, having been 
so long punished, would have expiated their sins and 
been released. He was for the exercise of the strong 
hand in the south for a long time to come. 

The solemn service set forth hy Bishop Horatio 
Potter, was held at St. John's church, the Rev. Dr. 
Plenry C. Potter rector; at Christ church, the Rev. 
J. K :\Iulford, rector ; at the Church of the Holy 
Cross, the Rev. Dr. J. I. Tucker, rector ; and at St. 
Paul's church, where also the Rev. Dr. Thomas W. 
Coit the rector, preached a sermon tor the occasion 
which appears on some of the i)revious pages of this 
work. 

At the Jewish synagogues the day was solemnized 
by appropriate religious observances. 

The address of Charlton T. Lewis. Esq., late a 
professor in the Troy Universit\', which is printed in 
this volume, was pronounced at the State Street 
Methodist Episcopal church, the service of worship 
being conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Dr. Erastus 
Wentworth. The congregation of the ISTorth Second 
Street Methodist Episcopal cliurch, the Rev. Dr. J, 
Wesley Carhart, pastor, united with the State Street 
church on this occasion. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 331 

A conference meeting was held at the First Presby- 
terian clinrch, the Rev. Marvin E. Vincent, pastor. 
At the Second Presbyterian church an address was 
delivered by the pastor, the Rev. D. S. Gregory. The 
Rev. Duncan Kennedy D.D., pastor, of the Second 
Street Presbyterian church, preached a discourse 
based on passages taken from the sixtieth and the 
one hundred and twenty-sixth psalms, in which he 
reviewed the history of the four years of civil war, from 
which the nation had just emerged ; portrayed the ter- 
rible character of the spirit of treason which produced 
it; and enforced various lessons of instruction and 
duty, which, by means of this baptism of blood, the 
providence of God seemed to inculcate. At the Park 
Presbyterian church, the Rev. D. S. Johnson of Waver- 
ly, New York, preached a sermon from the sentence, 
" The memory of the just is blessed," taken from the 
seventh verse of the tenth chapter of Proverbs. 
Among the many reasons winch he gave for the bless- 
ed remembrance in which the late President is held, 
were his ability as a statesman, hisriglit deeds always 
performed at the right time, his integrity which led 
him to think only of his country and his duty even 
when he had an army at his command and might 
have been a dictator, his benevolence, his humility 
illustrated by his partiality for the poem beginning 
" Oh ! why should the spirit of mortal be proud?" and 
more especially his constant trust in Divine providence. 
The speaker said that it was the duty of the Christian 



332 LIXCOLy^ MEMORIAL. 

cliurch to .sustain the government in its great labor 
of restoring peace and harmony; and that as Presi- 
dent Lincoln's success was eminently due to his 
constantly having the prayers of the churches with 
him, President Johnson should also 1)e accorded the 
benefit of the same appeals to the source whence all 
blessings flow. The services at the United Presby- 
terian church were conducted by the pastor, the Rev. 
Hugh P. McAdam, who also preached the sermon, a 
synopsis of which precedes this account. The Rev. 
Joseph A. Prime, pastor of the Liberty Street Presb}'- 
terian church (colored), read the thirtj'-seventh psalm 
and commented on the topics thereby suggested. 

At the Roman Catholic churches, namely, St. 
Peter's church, the Rev. James Keveny, pastor; 
St. Mary's church, the Rev. Peter Havermans, pastor; 
and St. Joseph's cliurch, the Rev. Aug. J. Thebaud, 
pastor, services were held similar to those that ob- 
tained on Easter Sunday and on the nineteenth of 
April during the obsequies of the late President at 
Washington. 

The Rev. Edgar Buckingham, pastor of the Uni- 
tarian church, read passages from the Scriptures 
suited to the character of the day and oti'ered appro- 
priate praj-ers. 

The daily Union prayer meeting under the auspices 
of the Troy Young Men's Christian Association, was 
conducted at their rooms by the Rev. Dr. George C. 
Baldwin, with especial reference to the solemnities of 
the occasion. 



LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 333 

Religious services, similur in their nature to those 
already described, were held in the other places of 
worship in the city. 

At the regular meeting of the Common Council, 
appointed to be held on the evening of this day, the 
following proceedings were had. 



Common Council Proceedings. 

Regular Mekting. 

Wednesday Uvening, June 1, 1865. 

Members Present — Hon. Uri Gilbert, Mayor; Hon. 
John jNIorau, Recorder, and Aldermen Cox, Tales, 
Fleming, Hay, Hislop, Haight, Harrity, Kemp, Mc- 
Manus, Morris, Norton, Stanton, Stannard, Starbuck. 

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as 
printed. 

The Recorder moved, as a mark of respect to the 
day of N"ational Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, 
appointed by the President of the United States, that 
this lioard do now adjourn until Friday evening, June 
2, 1865, at 8 o'clock. 

Carried, and the board adjourned. 

James S. Thorn, City Clerk. 

As on the day of the President's death and the 
days of the obsequies at Washington and at Albany, 
so on this day, places of business and of amusement, 
public oiBces and the public schools were closed, and 



334 LINCOLN MEMORIAL. 

men ceased from labor as well as from traffic. The 
publication of the daily papers was also suspended. 
The occasion was a linal public testimonial of the sor- 
row of the nation on account of its great and irrepara- 
ble bereavement. The men of this generation will 
pass away to be succeeded by a generation, who, as 
children, wondered at the sad faces and the solemn 
deportment of their fathers and mothers during this 
long season of moui'ning. But to these children will 
be taught the story of this nation's long and desperate 
struggle for Union and the rights of man : and when, 
as men they come to appreciate the nol)le character 
of the patriot-President who with hundreds of thou- 
sand of patriot-soldiers, died for his country, the 
wonder of infancy will become the admiration and 
veneration of manhood for the noblest, gentlest, hum- 
blest, purest and dearest name in American history 
— the name of AsR.-iHAM Lincoln. 



INDEX. 



Abraham Lincoln; a poem, 27, [ 
28; an article, 169-175. 

African Methodist Episcopal Zion [ 
church, sermon preached in the, , 
43-47. 

Ainsworth, Col. Ira, 247. I 

Albany, invitation from the com- i 
mon council of, 177 ; invitation ' 
from the Yoinifj- Men's Asso- 
ciation of, 24:!; obse(|uies of 
Abraham Lincoln at, 24.") -2.54; 
Kiirncssc-i 1(11 |i-, ','.■>! ; Listitutc, 
251; 'i'urnci- Vinin, 252. 

Alexander nf Kus-ia referred to, 
287, 288. 

Allen, Brig'. Gen. Darius, order \ 
of, 100, 101 ; 247. 

Almiirlity Lord,bcfore thy throne : 
a hymn, 9. 

Anecdote of Abraham Lincoln, 
204-206. j 

Anshe Chesed, Jewish Syna- 
goane, 99 ; service at the, 157 - 
100. I 

Armsby, Asst. Surgeon James H., 
247. i 

Assassination of President Lin- 
coln, cH'ccI of the news of the, 
on the community, vii-xi; ef- 
fect of the news of, in Troy, 1, 
2, 7- 9 ; articles on the, 2, 3, 20 
-22,88-90. 

Atlantic Monthly, extract from 
the, 144, 145. 

Baermann, Prof P. H., citizens' 
meeting addressed by, 30 ; reso- 
lutions bv, 102, 103; notice of 
speech liy, 338. 

Baker, Cni A. S., 247. 

Baker, Col. B. F., 246. 

Baldwin, Key. George C, D.D., 
remarks by, 79, l(i0, 161 ; no- 
tice of sermon of, 339, 330 ; 
service conducted by, 332. 

Baldwin, George C, jr., 243. 

4 3 



Baltimore, obsequies at, x; re- 
ferred to, xix. 

Banker, T. S., clerk of board of 
supervisors, 168. 

Baptist churclies. Service at the 
First Baptist church, 79, 160, 
161, 329, 330. Service at the 
North Baptist church, 19,79, 80 ; 
discourse at the North Baptist 
church, 104-110. 

Barrcre, account given by, 294. 

Barriuger, W. N., citizens' meet- 
ing addressed by, 30 ; resolu- 
tions by, 30, 31. 

Barron, John, chief of ijolice, 
thanks to, 253. 

Beach, C^ol. George, 247. 

Bcinlslrv, Maj. W. C, 240. 

Bc;i\.TU\rkciuli, 251. 

Bee. Ii.r.lbniy Ward, hisaddress 
at Exeter liall icti-rred to, xxiii. 

Benson, Benj. 1).,243; on com- 
mittee to draft resolutions, 234. 

Bentlev, Col. R. C, 246. 

Berger, Lieut. Albert E., 348. 

Betliust society, 231. 

Black Hawk war, Lincoln a cap- 
tain in the, 119, 140. 

Board of supervisors of Rensse- 
laer county, resolution.s of the, 
160-168. 

Booth, J. Wilkes, the assassin of 
President Lincoln, xxv, 282. 

Bradford, siioecli of member of 
jiarliament from, xxxv-xl. 

Brintnall, Lieut. Col. Charles E., 
249. 

Brother band, 251. 

Brown, Rev. S. D., sketch of a 
sermon by, 30 - 42. 

Brown, John, referred to, 47. 

Brownell, Edwin, motion of, 4. 

Bryant, William C, extract from 
'"' The Battle-tield," a poem by, 
329. 



330 



ISDEX. 



Buckiniiliiiin, IJcv. Eilc;ar, ser- 
mon.^" by. (;(i-78, 229-237; 
servii-c comlncted by, 332. 

BnffJilo, ()l)sequicsat, X. 

Biif/is, Lieut. Wallace F., 248. 

Bunlifk, .Julia Adelaiile, an arti- 
cle by. Hi!) -17.5. 

Buiiinirton, X. J., Gen. Grant 
visits, xxvi.2. 

Burns, Itobert, referred to, 68. 

Biissey, T. Henry, recordin.e sec- 
retary of Troy Young Men's 
association. 243. 

Caesar, Julius, referred to, 72, 
2(i4. 

Calder. Capt. William F., 248. 

Camliridse, university of, viii. 

Camp, Nathan H., assistant sur- 
geon, 248. 

Capo d'lstria referred to. xii. 

Carhart, Rev. .J. Weslev, D.D., 
sermon bv, 116-127; 330. 

Carv, Lieut. John M., 248. 

Cary, Lieut. Sidney T., 248. 

Cavour ret'en-ed to, xv. 

Charles 1 reterred to, 72. 

Che-lrrlieltl. Lord, referred to, xv. 

Chie.Mgii, libseipues at, X; Repiib- 
publican national convention 
at. Hi). 

Christ church, service at, 80, 81, 
330. 

Church, Quartermaster Henry S., 
order to, 178 ; 248. 

Church, Col. Walter S., 250; 
thanks to, 253. 

Cicero and Lincoln compared, 
260-26.5. 

Citizens' meeting, account of the, 
30, 31. 

Citv philanthropic srove, 251. 

Cla'rk, E. H. G., a poem bv, 168, 
160. 

Cleveland, obsequies at, x. 

Clexton, S. R., citizens' meeting 
addressed by, 30. 

Coit, Rev. Thomas W., D.D., 
discourse by, 268-279 ; service 
conducted by, 330. 

' Colby, John H., district attorney, 
4. ■ 

Columbus, obsequies at, x. 

Common Council of Albany, in- 
vitation from the. 177. 240. 

Concordia society, meeting of the, 
237, 238. 



Common Council of Troy, pro- 
ceedings of the, 93 - 96, 240, 241 , 
333 ; request of a committee of 
the, 97. OS ; 249. 251. 

Cimners, Lieut. Patrick, 248. 

Cooper. Ma.j. (ien. John Tavler, 
iuformati'on from. 100 ; 247,"2.50. 

Corday, Charlotte, referred to, 72. 

Court, proceedings in the Rensse- 
laer county, 4, 5; in the police, 
5, 6. 

Court house in Troy, dress parade 
in fiont of, 252. 

Cox, Alderman William, reso- 
lutions by. 30, 31 ; 93, 240, 333. 

Cramer. Lieut. Le Grand, 248. 

Croimvell, OKner. referred to, xy. 

Cumberland, sinking of the, 294. 

Curran. Lieut. James E., 248 : 
commands battery, 249. 

Cusack, Capt. Jame's W., 248. 

Cuyler, J. (;., note from, 177. 

Daniels, Lieut. William A., 248. 

Davenport, Charles E., secretary 
of citi/.etis' meeting, 30. 31. 

Davenport, Nelson, resolutions 
by, SO, 31. 

Death of President Lincoln, The : 
a poem, 92, 93. 

Decline of amusements : an arti- 
cle, 255, 2.56. 

De Forrest, Col. J. J., 246. 

Dickson, Rev. Alexander, notice 
of sermons by, 83. 

Dirge for Wednesday, April 19, 
1865, A, 175, 176 ; dirge on the 
death of Abraham Lincoln, A. 
2.58-260. 

Dorinir. Charles, band of, 178. 
248,^249. 

Dorr, Lieut. Philip, 248. 

D'Orsay, Count, referred to, xv. 

Drowne, Prof. Charles, chairman 
of a meeting, 102. 

Druids, order of, 251. 

Duke, Lieut. John, 248. 

Easter Sunday, extract from a 
sermon preached on, 32-35; 
reflections on, 80, 81. 

Eaton, Capt. Thomas B., secre- 
tary of meetinar of veteran of- 
ficers, 244. 24.5." 

Eddy, Charles, chairman of citi- 
zens' meeting, 30, 31. 

Egolf. JIaj. Joseph, chairman of 
meeting of veteran officers, 244, 
245. 



337 



Elliott, Rev. DavitI T., service 
couducted by, 19 ; discourse bv, 
297-817. 

Emaucipatiou society, meeting in 
Loudon, under the auspices of 
the, -x.x.xiv. 

English abuse of Abraham Lin- 
coln, xiv, XV, xxi, xxii ; English 
praise, xxxiv-xl. 

English prayer book, service 
adapted from, 9 -14. 

Episco))al churclies. Bishop Ho- 
ratiii I'littirs litter and order 
ofM'i\i((s, ■J(i.">-267. Service 
at Christ (liinvh, 80, 81, 330. 
Service at the church of the 
Holy Cross, 81, 330. Service at 
St. John's church, 9-U, 330; 
extract from a sermon prciulicd 
at St. John's cluurli, :>2-3."). 
Discourse at St. Paul's cliurcli, 
268-279; service at St Paul's 
cliurch, 330. 

Evans, George, editoral article by, 
2,3. 

Evans, William, president of the 
Emancipation societj' in Lon- 
don, xxxiv. 

Exeter hall referred 'to, xxiii. 

Fales, Alderman Joseph, 93, 240, 
333. 

Farrell, Col. M. A.,247. 

Fenian brotherhood, 2.51. 

Feuton, (lov. Reuben E., procla- 
malion by, 2S, 29. 

Fire eonuuissioners of Troy, 249. 

Fire department, 252. 

Fii'st Baptist church, service at 
the, 79, 160, 161,329,330. 

First Presbyterian church, ser- 
vice at the, 15-18, 83, 161; 
sermon in the, 181 - 222 ; confer- 
ence meeting at the, 331. 

Fitzgerald, Alderman Michael, 93, 
340. 

Fleming, Alderman James, 93, 
333. 

Folger, H. C, 243. 

Ford's theatre, assassination at, 2. 

Forster, W. E., member of parlia- 
ment for Bradford, speech of, 
XXXV - .xl. 

Francis, John M., article by, 20 - 
22. 

Francis Joseph referred to, 287. 

Free brother lodge, 251. 



Galusha, Henry, motion bj', 243. 
Garnsey, J. Spencer, 243. 

Gerard, BalfhazMr. referred to, xii. 

German lirollu i> ns^iH iation, 251. 

German litii-nv s:,rici\ , 251. 

Gettysburg, shuukr euucerning 
Lincoln at, refuted, xxxiv. 

Gilbert, Col. B. C, 247. 

Gilbert, Hon. Uri, mayor of Troy, 
messages to the clergy by, 8 ; 
remarks of, 93, 94 ; chairman of 
a committee, 96, 241 ; signs a 
request, 9S : niiiinuniciiu'nt by, 
99,242; iK.i.'i.., lid. 177; state- 
ment l)v, 210; prdclaniatidu by, 
267 ; 333. 

Gilbert, William E., chairman of 
a committee, 243 ; on connnittee 
to dralt rrsdlntions, 254. 

G(]d moves in a inyslcrious way: 
a liyum, xxxvii, 14, 124. 

Good" Friday, the day of the as- 
sassination, 32, 86, 180, 296. 

Gould, Hon. George, notice of 
remarks of, 102. 

Grant, Gen. U. S., leaves Wash- 
ington for Burlington, N. J., 
xxvi, 3. 

Gregory, Rev. D. S., service con- 
ducted by, 19, 166 ; sermon by, 
47-66; address by, 127-130; 
notice of an addicss liy, 331. 

Guard of honor, invitation to the, 
241 ; names of the, 246, 347. 

Hagau, William, cliainuan on 
resolutions, 30, 31. 

Haight, Alderman Isaac N., 340, 
333. 

Hall, B. H., articles by, 22, 33, 
260-265; a poem by," 178 -181. 

Hardin county, Lincoln born in, 
118, 306. 

Harmony lodge, 351. 

Harrisburg, obsequies at, x ; re- 
ferred to, xix. 

Harrison, William H., death of, 
referred to, 105. 

Harritv, Alderman James, 93, 
240, "333. 

Hartsfeld, Frank, address by, 
158, 159 ; remarks of, 337, 23"8. 

Harugarie, order of, 351. 

Hastings, Col. John, 347. 

Hastings, Geo. S., private secre- 
tary of Gov. Fentou, 29. 



338 



IXDEX. 



Havermans, Key. Peter, serviee 
condiKlcd In-, 1!), Kil, 1(>2, 3:i2 ; 
seniion by, f<4-H(i. 
Hiiwley, r.ieiil. C'luiiies E., 248. 
na\vle"v, J. M., resolutions by, 

30, 31. 
Hay, Aklerman (iordon, 93, 240, 

333; on a committee, 241. 
Hebrew, pravers translated from 

the, 159, 160. 
Hiilbron, Rev. Jonas, notice of 

address bv, 238. 
llindriek, Col. James, 247. 
Henry IV of France referred to, 

xii, 72, 13i), 158, 159. 
Hibernian provident society, 351 
Hislop, Alderman Thomas "T., 93' 
240, 338. , 

Hollister, Martin L., 243. 
Holv Cross, Church of the, ser- 
vice at the, 81, 330. 
Homer's Iliad, reference to, 223. 
Hubbell, F. B., articles bv, 24 -2(;, 

255, 256. 
Hull, Hiram, chairman of board 

of supervisors, 168. 
Hung be the heavens with black : 

an article, 31, 32. 
Hunter, W., announcement by, as 
actinii- secretary of state, 87" 88 ; 
siiiiis the President's proclama- 
tions, 240, 257. 
Hymn, 9, 14. 
Indiana, Lincoln removes to, 119, 

140. 
Indianapolis, obsequies at, x. 
In memoriam A. L. : a poem, 178 

-181. 
Iron moulders' union, 251. 
Ives, Capt. Edward A., 248. 
Jewish citizens, resolutions of re- 
spc 1 ],\. !is,!in; .service at the 
.]r\\ i-li -Miiitioijue by, 157- 160, 
330. 
Johnson, A. G., article by, 88 - 90. 
Johnson, President Andrew, 126; 
announcement of the obsequies 
of President Lincolu at Wash- 
in;;tiin I>y,s7, ss ; proclamation 
l)y, 238-240,256,257. 
Johnson, Rev. D. S., notice of a 

sermon by, 331, 332. 
Kemp, Aldennan William, mo- 
tion by, 93 ; resolutions offered 
by, 94- 96 ; on a committee, 96, 
241; signs a request, 98; 240, 
333 



Kennedy, Rev. Duncan, D.D., 
service ecmducted by, 19; ad- 
dress by, 136 - 151 ; notice of a 
discourse by, 331. 

K<'ntucky {\w birth iilacr of Lin- 
c<iln, l'0!», llbi. 

Keveny, Rev. James, notice of 
remarks of, 86, 162; service 
conducted by, 332. 

King Henry VIII, extract from 
Shakspeare's play of, 286. 

Kisselburgh, W. E., article by, 90 
-92. 

Ksinsky, A., chairman of a meet- 
ing o'f Jewish citizens, 9!t. 

Landon, ('apt. John M., order to, 
6, 178; to tire a salute. 101, 248. 

La Vensreur, the sinking of, 294. 

Lc Roy, Lieut. Col. John 1., 247. 

Lessoii from the Gospel of St. 
Matthew, 13. 

Lewis, Charlton T., address bv, 
279-296; address of, noticed, 
330. 

Liberian mission referred to, 41. 

Liberty street Presbyterian 
church, sermon in the," 151 - 
157 ; service in the, 332. 

Lichtensteine, B., secretary of a 
meeting of Jewish citizeiis, 99. 

Lisbon, earthquake at, 273,274. 

London, meeting of .sympathy on 
tlie dc'atli of Lincoln in, .x.x.xiv. 

Loiulon Spectator, extract from 
the, 207, 208. 

London Star, editorial article on 
Abraham Lincoln from the, xi 
- xyi ; account of Abraham 
Lincoln from the, xvii-xxxiv. 

Longfello\y, Henry W., extract 
from the writing's of, 150. 

Louis XVI referred to, 72. 

Lo3-al league, 249. 

McAdam, Rev. Hugh P., sermon 
of, noticed, 166, 332 ; sermon 
by, 318-329. 

Mac Arthur, C. L., article by, 31, 
32. 

Macaulav, Lord, eulo>;ium by 
113. 

McAulilfe, Capt. Timothy, 248. 

MeConihe, Col. Isaac, jr., regi- 
mental orders of, 6, 7, 101, 177, 
178; invitation to, 240; invita- 
ti(m bv, 242 ; order of thanks 
by, 253 ; 247. 



r 



MfConihe, Capt. William, reso- 
lutions by, 244. 

McLean, burgeon Le Roy, 247. 

JIcManiis, AUlcrman Thomas, 
93, 240, 333; on a committee, 
341. 

Manlv, Maj. John, 247. 

Mai'a'f reli'n-c(l tcj, 72. 

Marvin. Col. S. E, 247. 

Merchant of Veuice, citation from 
the, 274. 

Meredith, Rev. R. R., citizens' 
meeting adclresseil by, 30 ; no- 
tice of sermon by, 82, 83. 

Merritt, Lieut. Heiiry A., 248. 

Methodist chinches." Sermon in 
the African Mctlinilist chnrch, 
43-47. Service at tlic North 
Second street Methodi.st Epis- 
copal church, 82" sermon, 110 
- 127 ; 330. Service at the 
Nortli Troy Methodist Episco- 
pal eliureli. H',>, »■■]. Sermon in 
the State -ilreel Mi-tliodisl Epis- 
copal cluirch, :!i;-42, 223-229; 
s<'ivi(r, SI, s->, 101, 330; ad- 
div", 2 ;'.) - 2'.H). Service at the 
Thii-.l -iiii-i (South Troy) Meth- 
ciili^i E|ii-(ii|'al church, 19; dis- 
(•(.iii-c, ■,'!I7-;!17. 

.Midillrion's life of Cicero, ex- 
tracts from, 201 -204. 

Miller, Gen. Martin, resolutions 
by, lOG - 168. 

Miral)ean referred to, -\v. 

JIiserer<' intoned, 1!) ; chanted, 
102, 103. 

Moore, Adj. Gurdon 6., regimen- 
tal orders signed by, 6, 7, 101, 
177, 178 ; invitatioti signed by, 
242 ; order of thanks signed by, 
253 ; 248. 

Jlorau, John, recorder, 93 ; on a 
conuiiittee, lit! ; siiins a request, 
9S; motion of, 240, 241, 333. 

.Mcn-ris, Alderman Koliert, 113,240, 
333; on a committee, 241. 

Mourning for Abraham Lincoln, 

vii - xi. 
Muhlenberg, Capt. F. P., 347. 
.Mulford, Rev. J. N., address by, 
S(.l, SI ; service conducted by, 
330. 
Murphy, Alderman Edward, jr., 

93. 
Myers, Lieut. John, 248. 



^A'. 339 

Napoleon I referred to, xv. 
Napoleon III referred to,xii, 387, 

388. 
Nason, Prof H. B., resolutions 

by, 102, 103. 
National beravement, The : an 

article, 90-92. 
National calamity and humi- 
liation. The: an'article, 34-26. 
National guard, orders of the, 

6, 7, 177, 178, 253 ; invitation 

from the, 243 ; organization of 

the twentv-fourth regiment of 

the, 247, 248. 
Nearj', Thomas, remarks by, 5, 6. 
North Baptist chnrch, service at 

the, 19, 79, 80; discourse at the, 

104-116. 
North second street Methodist 

Episcopal church, service at 

the, 82 ; sermon at the, 116- 

127; 330. 
North Trov Methodist Episcopal 

church, service at the, 82, 83. 
Norton, Captain M. L., 247. 
Norton, Alderman Thomas, 93, 

333; on a committee, 96; signs 

a request, 98. 
O'Brien, Lieut. William, 248. 
Obsequies of Abraham Lincoln 

at Albany, 245 - 2.54. 
( )dd Fellows, Independent order 

of 2.V2. 
Oflieers' meeting, 245. 
Orsini referred to, xii. 
(Jnr <luty on this day : an article, 

Oxford, university of, viii. 

Palm Siiiulav, union army entered 

Richmond cjn, 86. 
Palnieislon, Lord, referred to, xv. 
Parl< Presliyterian church, service 

at tlie, S3; notice of a sermon 

at the, 331, 333. 
Parks, Rev. S., delivers an ad- 
dress, 161. 
Payne, Capt. Martin, engineer, 

348. 
Peak, Col. C. S., 347. 
Pease, A. S., a dirge by, 175, 176. 
Peel, Sir Robert, referred to, xv. 
Perkins, Henry, drum corps of, 

178, 349. 
Philadelphia, obsequies at, x. 
Police court, proceedings in the, 

0, 6. 



340 /-^ 

Poiiierov, ilaj. George, 247. 

Potter, "Hcv. llenry C, D.D., ser- 
vice eondiieted by, !)- 14, 330 ; 
extract from a sermon bj-, 32 - 
35 ; absence of, l(i4 ; chaplain, 
247, 248. 

Potter, Rijrlit Rev. Horatio, D.D., 
bishop of Xew York, recom- 
mendation of, 2!), 30; letter and 
order of services bv, 265 - 2()7 ; 
330. 

Powder l>ov at Roanoke island, 
2!)4. 

Pratt, Maj. H. C, 247. 

Pratt, Ma]. Gen. T. R., 247. 

Prayers, 10-12, 14, l(Jl, 102: 
translated from the Hebrew, 
159, 100. 

Prentice, Aldennan James R., 93, 
240 ; on a committee, 241. 

Prime, Rev. Joseph A., sermon 
bv, 151 - 157 ; service conducted 
by 332. 

Proclamation l\v Governor Fen- 
ton, 28, 29; by President John- 
son, 238-240, 25(i, 257; bv 
Mayor Gilbert of Troy, 267. 

Pro quacunque tribiilatione, pray- 
ers, 161, 162. 

Presbyterian churches. Sernce 
at the First Presbvterian church, 
15-18, 83, 161 ; sermon at the, 
181 -222 : conference nieetinj;- at 
the, 331. Service at the Second 
Presbyterian church. 19, 166; 
sermon at the, 47-66; address 
at the, 127-135; notice of ad- 
dress at the, 331. Service at the 
Second street Presbyteiian 
church, 19 ; address at the, 136 
- 151 ; notice of discourse at the, 
331. Service at the United 
Presbyterian church, 166, 332 ; 
sermon at the, 318-329. Ser- 
vice at the Park Presbyteiian 
church, 83 ; notice of a sermon 
at the, 331, 332. Sermon at the 
Liberty street Presbyterian 
church (colored), 151-157; ser- 
vice at the, 332. 

Pidlman, Rev. James M., dis- 
course of, referred to, 86, 87. 

Quackenbush, Capt. John H., 248. 

Rapp, Capt. Christian W.. 248. 

Ravaillac, referred to, xii, 158, 159. 



Rathbone, Brisr. Gen. John F 
246; l)ri.<ra(le of, 250. 

Recommendation of Bishop Ho- 
ratio Potter, 29, 30. 

Rensselaer county board of su- 
pervisors, resolutions of the 
166-168; mentioned, 249. 

Rensselaer county court, pro- 
eeedinsrs in the, 4, 5. 

Rensselaer polytechnic institute, 
proceedings at the, 101-103. 

Resolutions at citizens" uieetin", 
30,31. , 

Riley, Lieut. Michael, 248. 

Roanoke island, powder bov at 
294. ^ 

Roliertson, Hon. Gilbert, jr., ad- 
dress by, 4, 5. 

Robinson", Brev. Maj. Gen. John 
C, guard of honor detailed by 
246,247. 

Roman catholicchurches. Ser\ice 
at St. Joseph's church,86, 162 - 
164, 332. Service at St. JIary's 
church, 19, 84-86, 161, 161. 
332. Service at St. Peter's 
church, 86, 162, 332. 

Rousseau, William W., 243. 

St. Andrew's society, 251. 

St. George's society, 251. 

St. James's hall, meeting of sym- 
pathy on the death ot' Lincoln 
in, xx.xiv. 

St. John's church, service at, 9- 
14, 330; extract from a sermon 
pre.U'hed at, 32-35. 

St. Josciih's church, service at, 
80, 162-164, 332. 

St. Joseph's society, 251. 

St. Mary's church", service at, 19, 

161, 162, 332; sermon at, 84- 
86. 

St. Matthew, lesson from the gos- 
pel of, 13. 

St. Nicholas hall, citizens' meet- 
ing at, 30, 31. 

St. Paul's church, discourse at 
368 - 279 ; service at 330. 

St. Peter's church, service at, 86 

162, 332. 

St. Peter's society, 251. 

Salamon, Rev. H. G., abstract of 
sermon by, 157 ; notice of ad- 
dress by, 238. 

Schiller grove, 251. 

Schoonmaker, J. E., 243. 



INDEX. 



341 



Scott, Capt. I. Se^ymoiir, 348. 

Scott, Lieut. Geu. "Winflekl, warns 
President Lincoln, xix ; an ex- 
clamation of, S08. 

Sears, Alderman Edwin, 03, 340. 

Second Presbyterian cliiiiili, sci-- 
vice at the, 19, lliil; ^rnnon al 
the, 47-66 ; addri-.> al the, I'-'T 
-135; notice of an address at 
the, 331. 

Second street Presbyterian 
chnrcli, service at the, 19; ad- 
dress al ilir, 1;!(!-1.'51; notice 
of an ad. Ires,-, al the, 331. 

Seward, Frederick W., referred 
to, xix, xxvii. 

Seward, William H., attempt to 
assassinate, xi, xii, xxvii, xxxv, 
1-3; as a statesman. 36. 

Sheldon, Rev. C. P.,D.D., service 
conducted by, 19 ; remarks by, 
79,80; discourse by, 104-116. 

Sic semper tyraunis : a poem, 168, 
169. 

Sidney, Sir Philip, account of the 
mourning for, viii. 

Smart, Alderman Robert T., 93, 
340. 

South Troy (Third street) Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, service 
at the, 19 ; iliscourse at the, 397 
-317. 

Spencer county, Lincoln removes 
to, 119. 

Springtield, obsequies at, x ; ex- 
tract from Lincoln's speech at 
xix, XX. 

Stannard, Alderman Henry D., 
93, 340, 333. 

Stanton, Alderman John, 93, 340, 
333. 

Starbnck, Alderman Geo. H., 93, 
340, 333 ; on a committee, 96 ; 
sis^ns a request, 98 ; motion by, 
241. 

State street Methodist Episcopal 
church, sketch of a sermon at 
the, 36-42; service at the, 81, 
83, 161, 330; sermon at the, 
323 - 229 ; address at the, 279- 
296. 

Staude, Henry, notice of address 
by, 238. 

Sfcenbergh, Maj. George T., 347. 

g(oddard, Richard H.. extract 
from a poem by, 204. 



Stonehoiise, Col. J. B., 347. 

Strong, Col. Charles, 347. 

Stuart, George, referred to, 190. 

Sturbridge, centenarian voter at, 
68. 

Sumner, Charles, referred to. 111. 

Swaiiuoiil, liivv. .Maj. II. A., 247. 

'ralle\ rand, an expression of, xiv ; 
his'wiliuess, 301. 

Taylor, Zachary, death of, re- 
ferred to, 10.5. 

Tennyson, Alfred, quotation from 
his poem In Memoriam. 115, 
116; extract from his ode on 
the death of the Dnke of Wel- 
lington, 333. 

Tenth briyade N. Y. S. N. G., 
order to the, 100, 101. 

Thebaud, Rev. Aug. J., notice of 
remarks by, 86 ; address by, 
163 ; service conducted by, 333. 

Thomas, Rev. Jacob, sermon by, 
43-47. 

Thomas, Lieut. Minott A., 348. 

Thompson, Lieut. Col. Chas. H., 
247. 

Thompson, Lii-iU. Genrsre S.,248. 

Thorn,. lami's S,, ]H.eni liv, 'JT, --'^; 
city clerk, liC. ■J41, :;:::;'; n-,,hi- 
tions liv, ■,'."i4, 'J.j.j ; article by, 
3.57, -.-.S; ■.M:;. 

Tliird siieei .\I el liodist Episcopal 
chiircli. servire at the, 19 ; dis- 
course al the, 397-317. 

Timpane, Capl. Michael, 348. 

Tiro presei\es Cicero's sayings, 
364, 265. 

To evcrytliing there is a season : 
an article, 357, 358. 

Townsend, Brev. Col. Frederick, 
347. 

Townsend, Martin I., remarks b}-, 
4; address by, 15-18. 

Tracey, John, chairman of a com- 
mittee, 177. 

Troy Daily Press, articles from 
the, 34 -26, 255, 256 ; dirge from 
the, 175, 176. 

Troy Daily Times, articles from 
the, 30-33, 90-93, 169-175, 
357, 358 ; poems from the, 37, 
28, 92, 93, 168, 169. 

Troy Daily Whig, articles from 
the, 2, 3, 88 -90, 360 -365; dirge 
from the, 358 - 360. 



( 



342 



IXDEX. 



250; 



rcsri- 



Troy Xews, article from the, 31, 
3"i ; poem from the, 1T8-181. 

Troy Young Men's association, 
meetiiis of tlie executive com- 
mittee of the, 24:5; resolutions 
of the, 254, 253 ; 249, 251. 

Troy Vouug 5[en"s Cliristian as- 
sociation, prayer meeting of 
the, :):«. 

Tuckir, Rev. J. I., D.D., reference 
to Easter sermon by, 81 ; ser- 
\ ice conducted by, 330. 

Tcnili regiment, 250. 

Twentv-tifth regiment 
tlian'ks to the, 253.. 

Twcntv-fourth retjiment, 
mental orders Un\w, (>, 7, 101, 
177, 178; invitation from the, 
242,244; tield,statfand line offi- 
cers of the, 247, 248 ; returns 
thanks. 253 ; 250. 

Tvpouraphlcal union, 251. 

r'nion lt-a::ue, 2.M. 

I'nilarian church, sermons at the, 
()() - 78, 22!J - 237 ; service at the, 
332. 

United Presbyterian church, ser- 
vice at the, 160, 332 ; sermon at 
the, 318-329. 

Universalist church, semce at 
the, 80, 87. 

Upham, Capt. Moses A., 248. 

Vail, Lieut. Ezra R., 248. 

Vandcrbilt steamboat, 244, 249, 
252. 

Van Santvoord, Mi's. E., poem bv, 
92, 93. 

Veteran officers, meeting of, 244, 
245. 

Victor Emanuel referred to, 287, 
288. 



Vincent, Rev. Man'in R., service 
conducted by, 15-18, 331 ; no- 
tice of sermon bv, 83; remarks 
by, 101 : sermon by, 181 - 222. 

Warren, Prof. S. Edward, resolu- 
tions by, 102, 103. 

Washington, obsc(|uies of Abra- 
ham Lincoln at the cily of, x. 

Washington, George, dCath of, 
referri%l to, 104, 105. 

Weeks, Capt. George II., 247. 

Wellington, Duke of extract from 
an ode on the death of the, 222. 

Wells, D. A., citizens' meeting 
addressed by, 30. 

Wentworth, Rev. Erastus, D.D., 
remarks by, 81, 82, 161 ; sermon 
bv, 223 - 229 ; sersice conducted 
by, 330. 

Wcslev, John, referred to, 68. 

White', Capt. William E., notice 
by, 245. 

Wickes, Asa W., aid-dc-camp, 
101. 

Willanl, Clarence, President of 
the Tro\- Young Men's associ- 
ation, 243. 

William, Prince of Orange re- 
ferred to, xii, 41, 42, 139; Lin- 
coln compared to, 200. 

William Tell lodge, 251. 

Winne, Lieut. Gabriel T., 248. 

Wolfe, Lieut. Gurdon G., 248. 

Wool, Maj. Gen. John E., ad- 
dress bv, 96, 97; his conduct 
in-aised; 309. 

Younu^, Josiah L., 246; a dirge 
bv, '258- 260. 

Yoiuig, Col. W. H., 246. 

Zion church, sermon in the Afi'i- 
can Methodist Episcopal, 43- 
47. 



r 



